This document summarizes a presentation on food structure design for health and well-being. It discusses using new concepts in food product innovation to produce nutritionally balanced foods that promote health. Key messages include tailoring foods to consumer preferences and needs, understanding how compositional and structural features relate to physiological effects, and using mathematical models to design processes that achieve desired quality and safety. The presentation covers hierarchical food structure, linking structure to functionality during digestion, and using processing innovations to design foods with enhanced structural and technological properties. It promotes designing foods smartly, sustainably, and for health promotion.

1. FOOD STRUCTURE DESIGN: INNOVAZIONE DI
PRODOTTO PER LA SALUTE ED IL BENESSERE
Laura Piazza – Department of food, Environmental
and Nutritional Sciences, University of Milan

2. SLIDE 2
Main topics and future challenges for the food sector
New opportunities to generate prosperity and quality of life are arising though trade,
knowledge sharing, and access to technology.
However, these opportunities are not always available for an ever-increasing human
population, and are accompanied by new risks to the stability of the environment.
SLIDE 2

3. SLIDE 3
Key messages for near and future food production
SLIDE 3
Key messages for Tailor Made Food Products following
consumers’ preferences, acceptances and needs.
• New and integrated concepts of food product innovation, for producing of high
quality, interesting, diversified and nutritionally balances safe foods for promoting
health
• A better understanding of the relation between the compositional and structural
features and attributes of the product and the physiological and neural effects
in the body

4. SLIDE 4
Key messages for near and future food production
SLIDE 4
Key messages for Process Design & Control.
Food Engineering Approaches:
• to increase knowledge on phenomena, mechanisms, driving forces and kinetics
responsible of changes of Physical, Chemical, Biological and Structural Properties of
food through processes.
• To develop Mathematical Models to calculate how the structure – function
relations at different levels of scale evolve through the process achieving the
desired quality & safety targeted for the new food

5. SLIDE 5
Structure design by processing
SLIDE 5
Hierarchical of food structure
• foods are the result of a complex architecture
• the resulting structure is composed of different levels.
• all or only specific structural levels are important for attributes describing food
products
• structure at the different levels of scale, which can evolve through the process
These premises were the basis of the network
FOOD COST STRUCTURE DESIGN

6. SLIDE 6SLIDE 6

7. SLIDE 7
Triangle of interrelationships between structure,
properties and processing
SLIDE 7
Linking structure to foods’ functionality during
human digestion
• studying food fate during human digestion
• using food systems to deliver functionality
• breakdown and assimilation involve traits
(appearance, flavour, taste and texture) that initiate
consumption
• the processes occurring in the gastrointestinal track
determine delivery of nutrients and bioactive
compounds
• both are related to the macro-and meso-structure
properties.

8. SLIDE 8SLIDE 8
Design of new materials and new processes
aimed to deliver targeted functionality and
accurately control their performance.
• biophysics of nutrient digestion
and absorption
• designing complex polymerand
colloidal systems
• designing of novel structures for
engineered bioactive delivery
Using food systems to deliver functionality

9. SLIDE 9SLIDE 9
• Food structuring by means of traditional
and innovative processing
• Impact of processing on sensory
attributes and on health benefits of foods
Process innovations in designing foods with
enhanced structural / technological properties

10. SLIDE 10SLIDE 10
Pulsed electric field processing
Application of high voltage pulses to foods placed between
two electrodes
Electric field exposure Electroporation
Effectson the structure
• Softening (i.e. potatoes, carrots), insteadof pre-heating
• Improvement extraction of intracellular compounds (i.e. fruit juices)
Process innovations in designing foods with
enhanced structural / technological properties

11. SLIDE 11
Final remarks
SLIDE 11
Eat smart, eat green, eat healthy
EAT SMART:
The technological point of view for a better management of the relation between the
compositional and structural features of the product and the effects in the body, staring
from the mouth to the absorption site.
EATGREEN:
Controlled, purposeful, customer oriented selection of raw materials and their processing
according to the most appropriate traditional/innovative technologies.
EATHEALTHY:
Foods for health promotion: a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing
and not merely the absence of disease (foodscapes, biodiversity, future heating)

12. www.foodandfeedforwellbeing.com