Award details

Structural assembly and breakdown

Reference	BBS/E/F/00042206
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Victor Morris
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,155,797
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2005
End date	31/03/2010
Duration	60 months

Abstract

The project will use novel probe microscopy methods to investigate the assembly and breakdown of biopolymer networks in food. In collaboration with the F1 Programme the research will focus on the ultrastructure of starch and its influence on the functional properties of starch-based foods. Emphasis will be placed on how the structure of starch influences the digestion of starch-based foods and how such structures can be modified in a rational manner to improve the nutritional quality of starch-based foods. Particular attention will be paid to the role of newly-discovered partially-crystalline amylose networks, recently identified within certain high-amylose mutant pea starch granules, and their potential use to modify the resistant starch (RS) and glycaemic index (GI) of starch-based foods. Studies will be made to establish the existence of such networks in other plant species such as maize, potato and wheat, and the genetic origin of such structures. Screening tests will be developed to screen for these novel starch structures in seeds and tubers. Studies on model starches will be extended to commercial high-amylose starches from different plant species to facilitate future nutritional studies and potential commercialisation of novel starches. Novel processing methods will be developed to induce the formation of partially-crystalline amylose networks within starch granules.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Diet and Health, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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