Scientific project of the BPM team

The composition and micronutrient macromolecules in meat are of definite nutritional interest, including proteins that reduce the risk of muscle wasting or sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass through aging).

Our research aims

(i) to provide scientific knowledge to develop good and healthy food with a focus on nutritional quality,

(ii) to facilitate their digestive passage so as to meet societal expectations and nutritional strategies developed by our nutritionist colleagues.

Given the importance of the variability of the primary materials in technological transformations – this includes protein composition, proteases, antioxidant/oxidant ratios, saturated/unsaturated fatty acids ...– the strategy is based on an integrated approach going from the model to the food in all its complexity to allow understanding of the reaction mechanisms (biochemical, radical ...) underlying the development of food, from a molecular scale to a supra-molecular scale.

On the deconstruction theme, the aim of our research is to elucidate the impact of processes on the digestion of meat, including the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of nutrients of interest using in vitro approaches, mimicking physiological gastro-intestinal conditions, with particular attention to the aging of the digestive tract.

Finally, the detection of specific biomarkers using “omic” tools is a transversal activity going across the two research axes of the team, both for the elucidation of the mechanisms and signalling pathways and for the development of tools to sort foods according to their technological and nutritional qualities.