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The long-term goal for this proposal is to contribute to the development of strategies for food based solutions to improve overall health. <P>
The goals for this project period are (1) obtain fundamental knowledge of delivery system for food bioactives that can be used to prevent major chronic diseases and (2) develop fundamental strategies to prevent food-borne diseases. <P>
The objectives for this application are several-fold: (1) develop effective delivery system for enhanced bioactives from foods, (2) understand health benefits of food bioactives in prevention of diabetes, cancer, and obesity, (3) understand food-borne pathogen growth and cross-contamination, and (4) improve detection methods for food-borne pathogens directly from food. <P>
The expected outputs from this project are (1) development of food products that deliver bioactives that are stable and bioavailable, (2) development of new health claims for food bioactives targeted for prevention of diabetes, cancer, and obesity, (3) improvement of detection strategies and reduction of food-borne diseases, and (4) modification of food processing surfaces to prevent fouling and cross-contamination from food-borne pathogens.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: With current knowledge that a number of significant chronic diseases are linked to foods, using food-based solutions as in the current proposal to prevent and/or treat these health issues would be a beneficial strategy. This proposal will focus on food-based solutions such as improving the quality of food by providing healthful food bioactives or by securing food from food-borne diseases. The results obtained from this project would have immediate, as well as long-term, direct, and wide-spread impact in significant portions of the population and would help create a healthier citizenry and reduce the incidence of diseases resulting in improved quality of life.
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APPROACH: Specific Aim 1 will be first focused on preparation of delivery system for bioactive that can be applied in foods. As an example of bioactives, ù-3 fatty acids will be used, which is prone to oxidation. Using this, a delivery system that can prevent oxidation and improve bioavailability will be developed using a number of encapsulation techniques. This is a unique way to deliver bioactives, which can be applied in a variety of foods without adversely influencing the flavor and texture of food. In addition, potential bioactives and their biological functions will be determined using tissue culture and animal models, targeted for diabetes, cancer, and obesity. These bioactives can be potentially applied with delivery systems to be developed in the project. Specific Aim 2 will be focused on food safety aspects. By understanding the growth conditions of major food-borne pathogens, such as environmental factors from food matrixes for growth or biofilm formation, it is possible to apply this knowledge to prevent food-borne pathogens. Then the next focus will be improving detection methods for food-borne pathogens from food. This project will focus of developing two new methodologies, direct detection methods for E. coli in food samples by using real-time PCR and microfluidic electrochemiluminescent for salmonella, E. coli, and/or listeria. In addition, newly developed modified surface to limit bacterial growth will be tested to prevent fouling and cross-contamination of food-borne pathogens.