Kaia Kukk

The overconsumption of sugar is one of the main reasons cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes have reached pandemic proportions. While the obvious solution would be to eat less and make healthier lifestyle choices, the desire for sweetness in our food remains strong. Artificial sweeteners are widely used to lower calorie intake. Several of them, however, are suspected to pose health risks of their own, and many do not taste as well as sucrose, often leaving a lingering off-taste. The development of novel sweeteners is hindered by the scarcity of measurable data on what constitutes an ideal non-caloric sweetener. We aim to develop biochemical assays to determine these metrics, facilitating the discovery of healthy, sustainable, and good-tasting sweeteners.

In traditional food systems, additives derived from petrochemicals and animal products are widely used. While these compounds may possess desired techno-functional properties, they come with environmental, ethical, health, and sustainability issues. The goal of this project is to develop alternative protein-based food additives, such as colorants and sweeteners, that meet the needs of the food industry while addressing the concerns. Rational design, structural biology, and AI methods are utilized for protein development. In collaboration with TFTAK, a precision fermentation platform is developed to produce proteins in microorganisms. Protein samples are tested in model foods. Successful prototypes are commercialized through partnerships with the local food industry and startup accelerators. The gathered experimental data is used to model relationships between protein structure and techno-functional properties, facilitating the design of novel food proteins in the future.

Feeding the continuously growing population is taking its toll on environmental resources. Expanding agricultural lands is not viable anymore as biological diversity and our own living environment suffer. The alternative is to transfer food production – proteins included – into microorganisms cultivated in bioreactors. This allows resource efficient food protein production that follows the principles of circular economy. Furthermore, both plant and animal-based proteins can be produced in microbes. The structures of these proteins can be optimised using cutting-edge molecular biology tools to improve their nutritional value and other properties like stickiness or foaming that are important in food preparation. As a result of this project, a food protein with improved properties is designed and produced in a bioreactor on an experimental scale. The acquired know-how is an important tool for the food industry to develop novel nature-friendly products.