Nutrition through pharmaceutical lenses

"Non-Digestible Oligosaccharides: Promising Targets for Non-Communicable and Infectious Disease Treatment"

For a long time, non-digestible oligosaccharides have been recognized as prebiotics that positively influence the microbiome, thereby inducing beneficial immune effects. Interestingly, these dietary fibers also exhibit direct effects on epithelial and immune cells (doi: 10.1111/bph.14871). Even more intriguing is their ability to inhibit the growth of specific pathogens or even kill bacteria (doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121461). In the coming years, Assistant Professor Saskia Braber will continue to explore the fascinating field of pharma-nutrition, investigating the potential of nutritional components, like oligosaccharides, to combat (non-)communicable diseases. This endeavor is supported by the acceptance of different grants dedicated to this research area.

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Contact: Saskia Braber

Can chlorella improve gastro-intestinal health?

The project: Soil-free Proteins for alternative dairy foods – Nutritious, Sustainable, and Healthy Functional Protein (2024 – 2026) forms a collaboration between Utrecht University, Alver World SA and Blendhub Global and is funded by the EIT Food Impact Funding Framework (Soil free Proteins as an alternative to dairy foods – Nutrition, Sustainable, Healthy and Functional Raw Material). The project aims to find alternative added health value soil-free protein solutions for dairy applications, specifically microalgae. Microalgae have a high nutritional value as they contain a lot of proteins, fibers, vitamins, and minerals. Alver has two unique Chlorella vulgaris strains in its portfolio; the Alver Diamond, which is a white Chlorella strain and the Alver Golden; a yellow Chlorella. Due to the neutral colors, these Chlorella strains are of specific interest for innovative food applications. This project has three main aims: 1) Cost reduction and upscaling of production (Alver), 2) development of alternative dairy applications (Blendhub) and 3) in vitro intestinal health studies (UU). The collaboration aims to deliver scientifically backed, sustainable and nutritious food innovations in the form of microalgae-based alternative dairy products.

Contact: Marit Zuurveld