According to OECD, Estonia is one of the EU countries where obesity and diabetes are most prevalent. According to WHO, every fifth child in Estonia is overweight. Therefore, our task is to help people reduce their consumption of sugar, salt, and fat, which are associated with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. The Estonian food industry is already committed to food reformulation, transforming former sinners in to saints. For example, muffin, which has been a delightful dessert in the past, has now become a food with reduced sugar, extra fiber and with a Nutriscore value B. However, its health impact is noticeable only when the taste is equally enjoyable and consumers accept it. This reformulation project explores sweet-tasting and healthy peptides and oligosaccharides to replace added sugars, the synergy of flavor compounds and salt, and the effect of fats on flavour. We aim to have a positive impact on public health without compromising quality, safety and taste.
Prolonging the shelf life of food is important to reduce food losses in supply chain and consumption as well as enable products to be marketed longer distance. Measures to extend the shelf life are directly related to food safety and quality; however, its sensory properties are best within a certain optimal shelf life. Although human sensory receptors are set by nature to identify food safety risks, good taste does not necessarily guarantee food safety and vice versa. Safety risks are particularly high for unpasteurised products with neutral pH. The temperature of 2-6°C used in the supply chain does not prevent the growth of spoilage, including pathogenic, bacteria and thus limits the shelf life. This project explores various technical options for extending the shelf life of food without sacrificing safety and quality: incl. aseptic production, rapid cooling, use of ice binding proteins and storage temperatures of -2...0°C as well as control of essential flavor components.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a human pathogen colonizing the human gastric epithelium in about half of the world´s population leading to peptic ulcer disease, atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer. Pathogenic strains of H. pylori possess several virulence factors, like CagA and VacA, correlating with higher gastric virulence and severely altered signal transduction. Recent studies have demonstrated the effect of H. pylori on gastro-intestinal microbiota leading to the progression of many intestinal as well as extra-intestinal diseases. The main goal of our study is to understand the effect of H. pylori colonization on the composition of the gut microbiota and on the progression of liver diseases. Our study has three specific aims: 1) Characterize the association between gastric microbiome and H. pylori pathogenic status from gastric biopsies; 2) Determine the lower intestinal microbiome from stool samples of the endoscopy patients; 3) Analyze the association between H. pylori -altered gut microbiota and liver functions. Nine patients undergoing upper endoscopy examination in West Tallinn Central Hospital (Tallinn, Estonia) will be enrolled in the study. The proposal is designed as a pilot study and will be highly valuable cornerstone for further research involving bigger sample sizes.