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Saving the Food, accelerated shelf-life test and more

Saving the Food, accelerated shelf-life test and more

TFTAK researcher Kärt Leppik performed in Estiko Plastar webinar “Saving the Food: The Role of Packaging’s Functionality & Attractiveness” on April 13th-14th 2021. The webinar focused on different factors affecting food shelf-life and sharing a valuable know-how to extend food products shelf-life, reduce packages environmental impact and furthermore – even improve the attractiveness of products by combining the right packaging and properties of food products.

TFTAK presentation gave an overview of main factors affecting food shelf-life stability, including introduction about chemical, physical, microbiological and biochemical processes happening with food products during storage. For example, the presentation introduced the meaning of water activity value and how it impacts the reactions in food products during shelf-life. Also, possibilities to avoid different processes, like fat oxidation, starch crystallization, syneresis, lipolysis and proteolysis were introduced. The main internal and external factors affecting food shelf-life were presented and discussed.

One part of the presentation was an overview of different shelf-life tests, their pros, cons and possibilities of use. For example, it was introduced that real-time tests are used for short shelf-life products with mainly microbiological processes, but accelerated shelf-life tests are conducted with long-storaged products which main reactions are physico-chemical processes. The methodology of acceleration was introduced, where it was emphazised that with changing the storage environment it is possible to accelerate the processes happening during storage. This is a time-effective way to assess the quality of long shelf-life products with shorter time. The models for accelerated storage tests are unique for each food product, depending on the main processes occurring during storage.

Our researcher Kärt Leppik concluded in her presentation that in order to achieve the expected shelf-life of a food product, it is necessary to define the product properties, find possible quality degradation causes, describe necessary storage conditions, determine the expected shelf-life, choose suitable packaging materials and environments and conduct a suitable shelf-life test. 

Presentation in Estonian: Estiko Webinar: Toidu raiskamise vähendamine: pakendi funktsionaalsus & atraktiivsus – YouTube
Presentation in English: Estiko’s Webinar: Saving the Food: The Role of Packaging’s Functionality & Attractiveness – YouTube 

Contact Kärt Leppik with additional questions by e-mail using the contact form below. 

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DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences Receives Infant Nutrition Ingredient of the Year Award 2019 for CARE4U™ 2′-FL Human Milk Oligosaccharide

We are proud to share the news that our partner DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences has received the prestigious NutraIngredients Europe “Infant Nutrition Ingredient of the Year Award 2019” for their innovation and commercialization in promoting infant nutrition by supplementing infant and toddler formula with Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMO) to make it closer to the gold standard of human milk, as well as supporting digestive, immune and cognitive development in infants.

The infant nutrition award was presented at a ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland following Vitafoods Europe and is given for true innovation and cutting-edge research in the nutrition and dietary supplements industries and is an acknowledgement of the industry’s very best international health innovation and commercialization.

 

Read more: www.dupontnutritionandhealth.com

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Contest for the best vegan products

“The Best Vegan Product” will be selected in collaboration between Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies and the Vegan magazine and the results of first categories will be published in the next issue already in February.

Preparations for the contest started already in summer in tight collaboration between Rain Kuldjärv and his team from the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies and Vegan magazine to ensure the quality control for the evaluation process and the results.

For each product category, there is a separate Expert Committee with 14 members. All experts have a background in the food industry, research institutions or as food lab professionals and they have undergone specific training before taking the assessment. Customer’s favorite will be voted in public shopping centers by customers.

The best products will receive a special leaf-mark. Golden, silver and bronze leaves are the winners of the category. Customer’s favorite will be awarded the green leaf.

The Vegan magazine will add a new heading, “Leaf-mark products,” from February where five best from several categories will be announced to the reader together with the expert’s comments about different characteristics like taste, flavor, appearance, etc.

The aim of the contest is to introduce vegan products as a tasty alternative to the animal-based food, to support customers and make it easier for them to add vegan products into their everyday diet, promote the vegan producers and improve the trust towards vegan products. The organizers also hope that the initiative will encourage retail stores to choose more vegan products into their selection.

All entrepreneurs are welcome to offer their products for the contest by contacting tunnustus@ajakirivegan.ee

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Others about us: Traditional Estonian tree sap in a new modern form

Birch juice has been consumed in Estonia for hundreds of years but now the Saaremaa family company Öselbirch in cooperation withCenter of Food And Fermentation Technologies  has developed a lemonade, based on birch juice.

When thinking about birch juice, a lot of people are reminded of fresh spring days with grandparents and drinking birch juice directly from the tree. By regions, it was also customary to ferment the sap or use it to produce birch kvass to avoid the expiring of the drink but mostly birch juice was consumed freshly in spring. Those who had large enough freezers at home, stored the drink in bags, so they could enjoy the ancient vitality drink in the summer as well.

Öselstuff OÜ (the company distributes drinks under the name of “ÖselBirch”), the family company of Saaremaa, is exactly one of those happy families who grew up with birch juice – in spring they would drink it freshly and in summer as a light ale, that is, in a fermented form. Since one can find more and more sodas at stores, which are either high on sugar or vice versa, in which sugars have been replaced with other sweeteners and additionally, the ingredients include substances which are unknown to regular consumers, then the representatives of ÖselBirch turned to the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies, with a desire to develop a soda drink based on birch juice which would include only fresh organic ingredients and no artificial flavourings or preservatives.

According to the co-founder of ÖselBirch, Anne-Liis Theisen, the company wishes to offer its clients birch juice drinks with different flavours in which the taste of birch juice as the main ingredient has to be recognisable: “That is why the product category as “juice” might be misleading for some because even though it is birch juice, then as for the nature and flavour of the drinks, they are rather beverages similar to flavoured waters.”

Different flavourings and sweeteners were tested In the framework of product development
The flavourings of birch juice drinks available on the market already were eliminated on the basis of market-study and flavours which could be included in the new soon to be developed drinks were selected together. One of the main wishes was to highlight the Nordic origin of the product which is currently a significant trademark in Europe and the rest of the world. The effect of blackcurrants, chokeberries and buckthorns on the sensory characteristics of birch juice drinks and the technology of production was studied.

In addition to Nordic drinks, there was also a desire to develop a ginger-flavoured drink since ginger has many-sided benefits. For producing the drink, the use of ginger syrup, ginger juice and ginger seeds as flavourings were assessed. For various reasons, the use of a brew made of fresh gingers turned out to be the best solution.

Additionally, drinks based on fermented birch juice were developed cooperatively. The company was already previously distributing naturally fermented birch juice and wished to develop a drink based on it, which is similar in taste with a drink known everywhere in the world – Mojito, but is non-alcoholic, and has an interesting shade of fermented birch juice flavour.

Refined sugar was wished to be avoided in the selection of sweeteners for the drinks and therefore, it was agreed on testing out honey, stevia and different raw cane sugars. A mutual decision was made to proceed with different variations of honey and Demerara raw cane sugar. Thereby, it was important that the amount of sugar would not exceed 5 g per 100 ml.

The developed recipes were taken to an industry test in order to assess the impact of technology on the characteristic of a product and to test out the compatibility of the recipes with large-scale production. In order to offer an alternative to conventional lemonades, recipes of drinks which were tasty, aromatic and looked good were the result of thorough tests.

Crowdfunding helped to produce The first ÖselBirch drinks

By now, Öselbirch drinks are available in a number of shops, cafes, restaurants and hotels all over Estonia, thanks to a successful international crowdfunding which the company used for launching production. On the international platform Kickstarter.com, more than €24,000 was summoned from 11 different countries, including the USA, Canada, South-Africa and also, of course, many European countries. In the framework of the crowdfunding project, many contacts were made with foreign countries, where the company plans to start exporting its products during the next couple of years.

Find out more about Öselbirch products in here: www.oselbirch.com

Source: 04. July 2018, ADAPTER

Öselbirch kasemahl
Öselbirch kasemahl

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Human Microbiome Market Reports 2018

Human microbiome industry definitely is a promising field to work with. According to Human Microbiome Market Report 2018, published in May, the industry has suffered a certain impact of global economic slow down, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years. Human Microbiome market size maintained the average annual growth rate of 22.67% from 130 million $ in 2014 to 240 million $ in 2017. BisReport analysts believe that in the next few years, the market size will be further expanded. They expect that by 2022, the market size of the HM market will reach 635 million $. If you need more information, please contact BisReport 

Therapeutics market

This market is developing evidence-based microbiome modulators designed to shift bacterial populations and their environment in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to better manage serious health conditions. Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is an organ system that includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and the intestines. The GIT can be divided into upper Git and lower GIT. Upper GIT consists of the oral cavity, the pharynx, the esophagus, the stomach, and the duodenum. The lower GIT consists of the small and large intestines. Gastrointestinal disorders refer to diseases involving the GIT. Microbiome therapeutics are being increasingly adopted for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS and ulcerative colitis.

Industry analysts forecast the global human microbiome therapeutics Market to grow at a CAGR of 14.19% during the period 2018-2022. Leading Vendors of Human Microbiome Therapeutics Market Space: ENTEROME Bioscience, Rebiotix, Seres Therapeutics, Vedanta Biosciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Takeda Pharmaceutical. If you need more information get a copy of sample report.

Promising venture

As one of the important market driver is side effects of the existing treatments, more and more companies are heading towards efficiency with fewer side effects, creating innovation in the field of probiotics. Last November, DuPont Nutrition & Health (DuPont), the global leader on nutrition, biosciences, and electronics announced the creation of its Microbiome Venture to spearhead development of new science-based solutions. Three months after its formation, the DuPont Nutrition & Health Microbiome Venture announced its second strategic research and development partnership with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK) in Tallinn, Estonia. The parntership will focus on developing cultivation and bioprocess capabilities for “next-generation” probiotics. If you need more information, please continue here.

microbiome

 

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DuPont Nutrition & Health Microbiome Venture Announces Third Strategic Academic Partnership

New Collaboration with INRA Micalis-MGP will Concentrate on DuPont’s Probiotic Strains and the Understanding of these Microbes’ Mechanism of Action on Human Health.

Building upon the recently announced partnership with TFTAK in March 2018, the DuPont Nutrition & Health Microbiome Venture continues to strengthen its capabilities in announcing the third strategic research and development partnership. The newly forged relationship with INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research), through both the Micalis Institute and MetaGenoPolis, a pre-industrial demonstrator, will be focused on deciphering the molecular mechanisms of action of DuPont’s probiotic strains through a functional metagenomics approach.

INRA has developed and validated a high-throughput screening (HTS) platform to test the effect of large DNA fragment in genomic or metagenomic libraries on intestinal epithelial cell lines modified with reporter gene technology. This allows the screening of genomic and metagenomic clones on various reporter systems targeting pathways involved in homeostasis, metabolism, immune control as well as enteroendocrine cell activation.

“We are thrilled to partner with INRA MetaGenoPolis and Micalis Institute as DuPont continues to build its capabilities to lead microbiome innovation through strategic partnerships,” said Microbiome Venture Leader Sebastien Guery. “Following our partnerships with APC Cork to discover new strains for maternal and infant health and with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK) in Tallinn, Estonia, to understand the “culturability” of next-generation probiotics, we are nicely complementing our set of capabilities by adding the understanding of the DuPont™ Danisco® probiotics’ mechanisms of action on human health at a molecular level.”

With its world-renowned scientists and excellent technical capabilities in functional genomics, INRA will be a strong partner with DuPont by defining the molecular mechanisms of action of DuPont™ Danisco® probiotic strains. DuPont established the Microbiome Venture to accelerate microbiome science-based solution development through a combination of selected strategic partnerships with microbiome science leaders and internal investments.

INRA, through its Micalis Institute and metagenomics platforms at MetaGenoPolis, collaborates with many leaders in the field, worldwide, contributing its know-how and tools to discoveries and breakthrough of high impact. INRA is the major European actor in the field of gut microbiota in terms of publications.

DuPont has a long-standing innovation relationship with INRA that began as early as 1987 when DuPont was the first company to sponsor INRA Ph.D. theses. Building on this fruitful collaboration, this new partnership will be part of the Qualiment® network, which has been awarded the “Carnot Institute” label of excellence. Qualiment® is a network of research institutes and universities created to provide the necessary scientific and technological resources to support companies in developing new food products with higher sensory and nutritional qualities and for a sustainable alimentation.

Established in late 2017, the Microbiome Venture is an entrepreneurial team drawing on DuPont capabilities, including R&D, manufacturing, regulatory, legal and marketing. The Microbiome Venture investment will complement DuPont’s existing product portfolio, especially in the areas of probiotics and prebiotics, including human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs.)

To find out more or to contact us, please go to www.danisco.com/HMV

About INRA

INRA, L’INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE AGRONOMIQUE, a French Governmentalresearch Institution, is the No. 1 European agricultural research institute and No. 2 for agricultural science in the world. It has the mission to contribute, through the development of skills, know-how and research results, to the design of technological and social innovations, as well as to organize free access to scientific data and publications in accordance with French and European rules on opening public data and free access to scientific publications. INRA has combined, more than 10 years ago, its efforts in nutrition, microbiology and genomics by developing its research in gut microbiota through metagenomics approaches. To find out more about us, please visit www.micalis.fr and www.mgps.eu

About DuPont Nutrition & Health

DuPont Nutrition & Health, a DowDuPont Specialty Products Division business, combines in-depth knowledge of food and nutrition with current research and expert science to deliver unmatched value to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industries. We are innovative solvers, drawing on deep consumer insights and a broad product portfolio to help our customers turn challenges into high-value business opportunities. More information is available at www.food.dupont.com.

About DowDuPont Specialty Products Division

DowDuPont Specialty Products, a division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials, ingredients and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, building and construction, health and wellness, food and worker safety. DowDuPont intends to separate the Specialty Products Division into an independent, publicly traded company. More information can be found www.dow-dupont.com.

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Cooperation with TFTAK was awarded with the prize

In this year’s “Estonian Best Food” competition the Best Drink from the Southern Estonia in the category of small enterprises, was held to a small company Siidrikoda OÜ’s product Mimikri . This great cider has been developed in collaboration with researchers at the Center of Food and Fermentation Technology.

Mimikri is an excellent fermented cider. It’s flavors and fragrances are polished in collaboration with researchers with the finest detail during the carefully planned production process.

Mimikri has already attracted expert attention. Mimikri earned a gold medals last year at the International Cider Challenge. The drink stared out with a particularly pure pear aromas, though made purely from apple juice.

Beverage product development at TFTAK

The Center of Food and Fermentation Technology has a strong competence in fermented beverage development and optimization of fermentation processes, aside of other food technology sectors. In the production of beverages, there has been an explosive development around the world in recent years. Existing products are constantly updated and improved. Many new producers have entered the market, offering a wide range of products: table and mineral water, flavored water, soft drinks and lean spirits.

Read about TFTAK’s food products development here. We offer product development and consumer research for various beverages, as well as helping to solve the problems associated with odor and smell. in addition we carry out comprehensive chemical analyzes to describe the composition and find the best packages and storing conditions to the products.

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DuPont Microbiome Venture strategic partnership with TFTAK

Three months after its formation, the DuPont Nutrition & Health Microbiome Venture today announced its second strategic research and development partnership. The newly forged relationship with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK) in Tallinn, Estonia, will focus on developing cultivation and bioprocess capabilities for “next-generation” probiotics.

Last November, DuPont Nutrition & Health (DuPont) announced the creation of its Microbiome Venture to spearhead development of new microbiome science-based solutions. Since then, the Microbiome Venture has already taken significant steps in contributing to DuPont’s business growth strategy.

The research and development partnership with TFTAK focuses on cultivation and bioprocess development for “next-generation” probiotics. The term “next generation,” as defined in this partnership, refers to commensal microbes naturally resident in the gastrointestinal tract and demonstrated to be associated with health and wellness. Such microbes typically have fastidious growth requirements, which must be mastered in order to be able to produce them at scale.

“We are delighted to be partnering with TFTAK,” said Microbiome Venture Leader Sebastien Guery. “With its excellent capabilities in bioprocess technology and systems biology, TFTAK will support DuPont by defining the optimum conditions required to culture and produce some of our next-generation probiotic strain candidates.”

Read more here.

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World-class publication “Comprehensive analysis of proteolysis during 8 months of ripening of high-cooked Old Saare cheese” from TFTAK

Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies scientists Anastassia Taivosalo alongside with T. Kriščiunaite, A. Seiman, N. Part, I. Stulova and R. Vilu published a high-level article in the Journal of Dairy Science. Comprehensive analysis of proteolysis during 8 months of ripening of high-cooked Old Saare cheese was carried out.

We applied capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass-spectrometry (MS/MS), and ultra-performance liquid chromatography to determine the composition of water-insoluble and water-soluble proteinaceous fractions of the cheese and to study in detail the degradation of caseins during 8 mo of ripening of Estonian high-temperature cooked hard cheese Old Saare. The application of high-resolution and high-accuracy MS/MS enabled identification of more than three thousand small peptides, representing fairly full casein peptidome containing peptides of 4 to 25 amino acids in length – 1,049 from β-, 944 from αs1-, 813 from αs2-, and 234 from κ-CN. The majority of β- and αs1-CN derived peptides originated from the N-terminal parts of the molecule, f6-93 and f1-124, respectively; peptides from αs2-CN arose predominantly from the C-terminal end f100-162. At the beginning of ripening, we found a relatively high amount of peptides originating from the glycomacropeptide part of κ-CN, while peptides from para-κ-CN prevailed during the later stages of ripening of the cheese. The cleavage patterns of β-, αs2-, as well as αs1-CN showed that primary proteolysis was started mainly by plasmin, although a low proteolytic activity of chymosin was also evident. Based on the analysis of cleavage sites, we observed a significant participation of proteolytic enzymes, including amino- and carboxypeptidases, of both mesophilic and thermophilic starter bacteria in further hydrolysis of oligopeptides during the ripening. Several new phosphopeptides were detected in the result of MS/MS data analysis. The profiles of the estimated concentrations of phosphopeptides revealed that those originating from β- and αs1-CN accumulated during the cheese maturation. In contrast, we did not notice any generation of phosphopeptides from highly phosphorylated part of αs2-CN, f25-80, presumably due to the inaccessibility of this region to the action of plasmin and chymosin.

The analysis of cleavage sites and the combination of principal component and clustering analyses provided a characterization of the complex dynamics of formation and degradation of peptides during the cheese maturation. We made an attempt to obtain a comprehensive picture of proteolysis during the Old Saare cheese ripening on the basis of the detailed peptidomic data, including also the less abundant peptides determined by MS/MS, and complemented by the data on intact caseins and free amino acids and reported the results in the paper.

Read more here.

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New filtration equipment for Interreg project ‘Whey Valorization’

Interreg EST/LAT project “Whey Valorization” is underway at TFTAK and our Latvian partner company Smiltenes Piens.

The lead partner of the project is Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK). Smiltenes Piens (SP) is the third largest cheese producer in Latvia in terms of volume and the sixth largest ni terms of milk processing company. The company cooperates with more than 150 suppliers of high-quality Latvian milk, and exports to Russia, Estonia, Germany, Israel and USA. With traditions and skills that have been developed and improved for more than a century, the company has become one of the leaders of the milk processing industry in Latvia. The brand “Smiltenes piens” is recognized and appreciated both by people in Latvia and by gourmands abroad.

Whey (derived from cheese and casein production) is one of the most suitable by-products for food production. Almost without exception, whey-processing technologies result in a waste by-product; usually a lactose and mineral-rich permeate in large volumes. Science and technology advances, particularly over the past 10 years, have led to a greater understanding of lactose behaviour, simple and efficient approaches to its hydrolysis or its isolation at commercial-scale, and improved overall cost effectiveness in the processing of whey solids. No whey utilisation strategy will succeed without suitable attention being paid to lactose, as this component represents >75% of whey solids (Smithers, 2008).

The objective of the project is the development of the production technology of syrup from lactose solution separated from whey. To perform the objective of the project a hydrolyzation of lactose into galactose and glucose syrup can be used. This product will be applied for production of various baked and confectionery goods as well be used for soft drinks production. The enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose is technologically important and applies to milk and dairy products, as well as to whey and whey permeate.

New filtration equipment

TFTAK has set up a modern filtration equipment system for the project.

Different types of membranes are used in the industry for various purposes like extending the shelf life of milk without exposure to heat treatment, standardization of the major components of milk for tailoring new products as well increasing yield and quality of the dairy products, and concentrating, fractionation and purification of milk components, especially valuable milk proteins in their natural state.

Instead of milk there can be a protein solution or whey for example. Primarily the equipment is needed for purification of the solution from undesired components – e.g. from milk bacteria and fat is separated by microfiltration, pure water is separated by reverse osmosis, lactose is separated by nanofiltration and whey proteins and casein is separated by ultrafiltration.