VEGPro · Plant food protein and expected glycemic response

There is an increasing interest in exploring novel vegetable protein sources and their derived products to promote their consumption as alternatives to animal protein sources, driven by sustainability and health reasons. The project VEGPro aims to evaluate the nutritional value of three promising plant protein sources (rapeseed, hemp, and amaranth) and their behavior during gastrointestinal digestion because this strongly determines the expected metabolic response. The glycemic response is a personal attribute and is highly determined by the diet composition, with protein intake showing a dose-dependent effect. Importantly, the extent to which the protein will be digested is crucial in this response and this depends of the protein source and its processing. The goal of the project is to identify novel protein sources and protein-rich plant by-products from sustainable crops with high nutritional quality and anticipate the glycemic response through the digestibility and the inhibition of DPP-IV enzyme.Processing tools such as enzymatic pre-hydrolysis will be applied in the case of poorly digestible sources to reduce the resistant domains. Knowledge about the molecules generated during the digestion of plant proteins able to inhibit the enzyme DPP-IV will be generated.The study of several alternative protein sources will enable their classification in terms of market potential based on their nutritional quality and impact on glycemia. Both at the transference level and at the scientific level, the acquired skills will be advantageous for the ER.