FAEN Symposium Food and Health

Project results reveal new possibilities for food to lower cholesterol and blood pressure - potato and cereal products offer great potential for inexpensive products with additional functional benefits

Some speakers presented sensational results during the recent symposium “Can blue potatoes protect against cancer and bread lower the cholesterol level?”. The event, organized by the German Institute for Food Technology (DIL) as part of the FAEN network, brought together scientists and researchers who are looking for inexpensive raw materials for food that also have a health-promoting effect on the consumer.

So Dr. Silke Hillebrand as spokesperson for a joint project between the TU Braunschweig and the FH Osnabrück present promising results. The researchers examined the prospects of old potato varieties with red flesh for the production of anthocyanins, which in the literature are ascribed positive effects in a number of diseases because of their high antioxidant capacity. The illustrated application examples as potato chips or natural coloring agents for confectionery, drinks and fruit preparations showed the practical suitability. Isn't it a turn of 180 ° when you simply do something positive for your health while eating potato chips?

Already the first positive study results in humans Dr. Astrid Drotleff from the TiHo Hannover in their tocotrienol study. How previously unused organic by-products such as rapeseed press cake and barley spent grains can be turned into high-quality foods with positive effects against cholesterol, arteriosclerosis and oxidative stress. The first marketable pilot products (eg rye bread with a cholesterol-lowering effect) are currently being subjected to consumer testing. This category of products is of great interest to so-called silver agers (people aged 50+).

The research conducted by Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheper from the University of Hanover. He demonstrated how potato protein obtained in industrial processing can be used to obtain bioactive peptides through special process steps that are able to naturally curb appetite or lower blood pressure like ACE blockers. This is where the first possibilities of how functional foods could supplement or replace pharmaceuticals are emerging. Due to the comparatively low production costs, this would result in significant cost savings in the healthcare system.

In the Research Association for Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences Lower Saxony (FAEN), scientists and practitioners from various Lower Saxony universities, research institutions and companies are looking for innovative foods that not only taste good and have a good nutritional profile, but also have additional health benefits. The FAEN network is coordinated by the DIL in Quakenbrück.

Further information is available on the Internet at: www.dil-ev.de and www.verbundprojekt1-faen.de

Source: Quakenbrück [DIL]