Essential elements and macronutrients in organic yogurts and cheeses: simulation trials of human digestion using in vitro models

• Grant number: 24/09250-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Azevedo Lima Pallone
• Grantee: Augusto César Costa dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The behavior of food in the human gastrointestinal tract is relevant to allow the identification of nutritional characteristics and stimulate the development of healthy products, with nutrients that are substantially absorbable, better digested and that cause positive impacts on the consumer's body. In vitro digestion models are useful protocols for estimating the phases involving the degradation and absorption of macro- and micronutrients and bioactive compounds with lower operational costs and without involving ethical issues. These models simulate the conditions of the human organism of adults, children and the elderly, and can be based on static, dynamic methods and, more recently, on semi-dynamic protocols, which aim to associate static parameters with dynamic digestion conditions. The growth in the production of organic dairy products has been driven by the significant increase in the consumer market for yogurts, cheeses and ice creams. Although they have low production rates compared to conventionally manufactured products, organic yogurts and cheeses have received encouragement for development and commercialization in Brazil. Yogurt and cheese are known to be sources of high biological value proteins and essential minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. On the other hand, the nutritional composition and degradation process and bioaccessibility of nutrients from these matrices, produced in an organic system, still need to be studied. In this context, the project aims to study the effects of the type of milk - organic and non-organic - on the formulation of yogurts and cheeses, on the composition of macronutrients and inorganic elements and on the estimation of the bioaccessibility of essential minerals, based on simulated in vitro digestion assays., by static and semi-dynamic models, in order to contribute with relevant informations that allow the elucidation of the nutrient potential of organic dairy products.