Functional Foods

Functional Foods

The proposal of this line is associated with the physicochemical characterization of foods, nutrients and bioactive compounds and their relationship with their technological and biological functionalities, associated with possible chemical and biochemical transformations. Research projects in this line include studies related to the bioavailability, metabolism and bioactivity of nutrients and bioactive compounds through models in vivo and in vitro, to elucidate mechanisms of action and interaction of these compounds and nutrients in different physiological and pathological processes or in specific stages of life. The projects seek to optimize the use of nutrients and bioactive compounds in foods, through processes of
extraction, fractionation and purification of bioactive compounds and to develop new food products from regional and exotic fruits, unconventional food plants and co-products with functional potential aiming their application in health conditions and associated morbidities.

Bioactive compounds and supplements: bioactivity, metabolism and application in the prevention of morbidities
Investigation of metabolic, physiological, biochemical and molecular effects associated with nutritional and/or dietary interventions in pathological and physiological conditions. Research topics involve the development and evaluation of the functional action of macro and micronutrients, as well as bioactive compounds in different experimental models; study of the metabolic repercussions of nutritional interventions in deficient and chronic conditions by the consumption and/or supplementation of bioactive compounds/nutrients/functional foods in human, animal and cellular models; and also studies of different nutritional strategies associated with the prevention of morbidities. Researchers: Anderson Junger Teodoro (Responsável), Ana Elizabeth Cavalcante Fai, Carlos Fernando Araújo Lima de Oliveira, Édira Castello Branco de Andrade Gonçalves, Juliana Cortes Nunes da Fonseca, Juliana Furtado Dias, Mariana Simões Larraz Ferreira, Otniel Freitas Silva, Renata Galhardo Borguini, Ricardo Felipe Alves Moreira, Simone Augusta Ribas.

Development of functional food products
Development of new functional food products through the incorporation and processing of different raw materials, ingredients and agroindustry residues; Evaluation of chemical, physical, nutritional, sensory and microbiological features of functional foods; Use of emerging technologies for food preservation aiming at consumer safety and health; Application of new methods of sensory characterization in the development of new functional products. Researchers: Anderson Junger Teodoro (Responsável), Ana Elizabeth Cavalcante Fai, Cristina Yoshie Takeiti, Édira Castello Branco de Andrade Gonçalves, Ellen Mayra Menezes Ayres, Juliana Cortes Nunes da Fonseca, Maria Gabriela Bello Koblitz, Rafael Silva Cadena, Renata Galhardo Borguini.