Valorisation of agri-food industry by-products in flours: towards a systemic management of the processing of cereal products, a low-temperature baking solution, and MRI/NIR analytical tools

• Grant number: 25/05241-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Agreement: ANR
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Maria Vanin
• Grantee: Fernanda Maria Vanin
• Principal researcher abroad: David Grenier
• Institution abroad: IRSTEA Centre de Rennes , France
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Pirassununga
• Associated researchers: Caroline Joy Steel ; Heidge Fukumasu ; Luiz Alberto Colnago ; Rosemary Aparecida de Carvalho

Abstract

Against a background of under-utilised by-products from the agri-food industry, increasing variability of raw materials and rising energy costs, ForProNut aims to develop an integrative and systemic strategy for the design of cereal products. The main objective is to produce low-temperature baked breads with good nutritional quality. ForProNut is a Franco-Brazilian collaboration that aims to increase interaction between the fields of formulation/nutrition, bread processing, sensor development, numerical simulation of the baking process and digestion monitoring. i The strategy for incorporating by-products into flours is based on the development of methods for assessing the nutritional quality (NIR) and cytotoxicity of flours/products. It takes into account the ability of the new recipes to be structured during fermentation/baking and unstructured during digestion. ii The reduction in baking temperature relies on the understanding of the gas behaviour in the alveolar structures induced by these recipes and involves the development of two new devices (TRL3 to 6/7) which will feed a numerical approach to baking. iii The study of gastrointestinal destructuration is based on new MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) methods for monitoring erosion kinetics. A low-temperature vacuum baking solution that can be scaled up to small bakeries will be suggested. (AU)