Development of innovative functional foods with high nutritional value also using by-products as functionalizing ingredients.

Functional foods are foods from which it is possible to obtain, in addition to nutrition and energy, health benefits due to the presence of particular ingredients. The benefits could be, for example, the improvement of the general condition of the organism, the reduction of the risk of diet-related diseases and the prevention of some pathologies. In recent years, the consumer demand for these foods has grown, therefore companies and researchers are engaged, on the one hand, in identifying functional ingredients to be used and, on the other, in defining their role in the product where are used from a technological, compositional, microbiological, sensorial and nutritional point of view. The research group has been working for years, in collaboration with various national and international research bodies and food companies, in the development of functional foods such as yogurt, cheese, ice cream, biscuits, bread and herbal teas.

Furthermore, the research group is involved in identifying new strategies to increase the bioaccessibiliy of various bioactive compounds using natural extracts obtained also from by-products of the agri-food chain (e.g. dates, bran, marc, cocoa, silverskin of coffee and industrial hemp) and in improving the nutritional / health / organoleptic profile of foods already on the market through strategies for extending the shelf-life, reducing fats and sugars and improving the organoleptic characteristics.

The research activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda SDG 2; SDG 3; SDG 12.

• Progetto PNRR Nord Ovest Digitale e Sostenibile (NODES) Flagship SADAIFO-ANIMAL_SPOKE_7 (Responsabile scientifico unità di ricerca DISAFA: prof. L.S. Cocolin) 2022-2024 (Responsabile scientifico unità di ricerca DISAFA: prof. L.S. Cocolin - Topic Leader Development of innovative food processes and products M. Bertolino) 2022-2025
  Progetto  FESR 2014-2020 Piattaforma tecnologica di “Filiera”: “Funzionalizzazione di alimenti e bevande da filiera piemontese (NUTRIBEV)” (Responsabili scientifici unità di ricerca DISAFA: proff.sse M. Bertolino; K. Rantsiou).
• Progetto POR FESR 2014-2020: “Piattaforma integrata per lo sviluppo di processi innovativi nel contesto della bio-economia finalizzati alla produzione sostenibile di ingredienti funzionali e sicuri per alimenti e nutraceutici (NUTRAcore)” (Responsabile scientifico unità di ricerca DISAFA: prof.ssa M. Bertolino).
• Progetto POR-FESR 2015: “Sviluppo di pasta funzionalizzata da by-product agroalimentari (PASTAFUN)” (Responsabile scientifico unità ricerca DIVAPRA: Prof. G. Zeppa).
• Progetto PSR-FEASR 2013-2014: “La salute vien mangiando: nuovi prodotti caseari ad elevato valore salutistico (Healthy Cheeses)” (Responsabile scientifico unità ricerca DIVAPRA: Prof. G. Zeppa).
• Progetto PSR-FEASR 2011-2013: “Sviluppo di alimenti funzionali innovativi contenenti sottoprodotti agricoli (In.Fun.Food)” (Responsabile scientifico unità ricerca DIVAPRA: Prof. G. Zeppa).

• Cantele C., Tedesco M., Ghirardello D., Zeppa G., Bertolino M. (2022). Coffee Silverskin as a Functional Ingredients in Vegan Biscuits: Physicochemical and Sensory Properties and In Vitro Bioaccessibility of Bioactive Compounds. Foods, 11(5), 717, 1-18, doi:10.3390/foods11050717
• Rojo-Poveda O., Barbosa-Pereira L., Orden D., Stévigny C., Zeppa G., Bertolino M. (2020). Physical Properties and Consumer Evaluation of Cocoa Bean Shell-Functionalized Biscuits Adapted for Diabetic Consumers by the Replacement of Sucrose with Tagatose. Foods, 9, 814, 1-16. doi:10.3390/foods9060814 
• Cantele C., Rojo-Poveda O., Bertolino M., Ghirardello D., Cardenia V., Barbosa-Pereira L.  Zeppa G. (2020). In Vitro Bioaccessibility and functional Properties of Phenolic Compounds from Enriched Beverages Based on Cocoa Bean Shell. Foods, 9, 715, 1-16. doi:10.3390/foods9060715
• Bertolino M., Barbosa-Pereira L., Ghirardello D., Botta C., Rolle L., Guglielminetti A., Borotto Dalla Vecchia S., Zeppa G. (2019). Coffee silverskin as nutraceutical ingredient in yogurt: its effect on functional properties and its bioaccessibility. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 99, (9), 4267-4275.
• Bo S., Seletto M., Choc A., Ponzo V., Lezo A., Demagistris A., Evangelista A., Ciccone G., Bertolino M., Cassander M., Gambino R. (2017). The acute impact of the intake of four types of bread on satiety and blood concentrations of glucose, insulin, free fatty acids, triglyceride and acylated ghrelin. A randomized controlled cross-over trial. Food Research International, 92, 40-47.

Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT), Università del Piemonte Orientale (Italy)
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy)
Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts (Amherst; MA-USA)
RD3 Department-Unit of Pharmacognosy, Bioanalysis and Drug Discovery, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels (Belgium)
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain)