Reshaping food for a better tomorrow

The CarboBiotics project emphasizes the positive effects of carbohydrates for a healthy colon and investigates the effects of antibiotics, prebiotics and probiotics on stability and recovery of microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract.

Aiming to play a role in the transition from an economy based on fossil fuels towards an economy where biomass forms the basis for chemicals and materials: a biobased economy. 

In the CarboSupport project it is investigated how we can obtain health-promoting products formed by intestinal bacteria by different complex carbohydrate combinations and plant based proteins in different parts of the intestine.  

Dutch agriculture faces huge sustainability challenges related to environmental, labour and societal aspects. Various factors limit incremental improvement of current systems. We start from the new paradigm of ‘technology-4-ecology-based-farming’ (T4E-farming) that will initiate and support the next-generation agricultural production systems that are sustainable, circular and nature-inclusive.  

As part of a global initiative, we will be testing a multi-domain lifestyle intervention in Dutch older adults. We will additionally focus on individual differences, predictive factors, biological mechanisms, behavioural change, and e-Health technology.

To assess the effect of 6 months regular, low and high dietary sweetness exposure on sweetness preferences, food intake, glucose homeostasis and body weight in healthy adults.

The project will explore the mechanism by which texture moderates eating rate and how this may be responsible for overeating. These results will inform the development of “food design rules" and novel sensory tools to guide the development of future foods that promote satisfaction, while reducing the risk of over-consumption.      

Understanding the impact of the mild food processing approaches on metabolic and sensory responses will enable ingredient and food production tailored for specific applications rather than for general use. 

This project will develop the key technological principles for enabling strong (50 – 90%) energy reduction in perhaps the key bottleneck in biomass utilization: water removal and drying. Electric driving forces will be used to draw water from the solids. 

The project will develop technologies and knowledge to translate the novel proteins into food prototypes. In this way, the potential of these proteins for any (food) product in the long-term will be illustrated, and evidence on the resource efficiency, sustainability potential, and safety of different fermentation approaches will be provided. 

Consumer research will be used to understand the market potential of whole biomass compared to refined fractions. A sustainability analysis will further support prioritization of specific processing routes to maximize impact, while prioritizing consumer demands.

We will implement novel functional materials and technologies to selectively recover high-value molecules. These technologies will be key in making numerous industrial processes more efficient, sustainable and circular. In this way, the Netherlands will be leading in the worldwide transition to a circular society. 

In a previous project (2018-22) we developed an outline of a regenerative agriculture system at the scale of the Netherlands and we established a community of practice of pioneering regenerative farmers. In this follow on project we work with a group of early adopters to develop development plans with sound business cases to transition their conventional farms towards a regenerative farm.

Extracting raw material from crops uses a lot of energy and chemicals. By doing this with a mild process by dry and wet fractionation, emissions can by reduced with up to 80% and the nutrition value of ingredients will be kept. Food will be healthier and will keep more fibre and micro nutrients.

Extracting raw material from crops uses a lot of energy and chemicals. By reshaping dry and wet fractionation to mild processes, emissions can by reduced by up to 80% and the nutritional value of ingredients will be preserved. This results in ingredients with good properties for high-value applications such as feed and food.