Food Science covers physical, nutritional and technical aspects of food handling from raw materials to the consumer. There is an emerging awareness of a strong causal relationship between food intake and health/disease. However, experimental evidence for specific bioactive components in foods with health effects is often lacking and mechanisms are poorly understood. An important research area at our unit is therefore to identify such bioactive components in foods and mechanism for their action, by studies in vitro, cell- , animal- and human models. The latter are performed in collaboration with the faculty of medicine. Other important research areas are preservation of bioactive components in the food process and their bioavailability. Biotechnology can be used as a tool to modify the raw material or the microorganisms used in the food process with the aim to obtain health promoting properties of the food. Our research area is of significance for the public health and for the development of functional foods by the food industry.

The research is supported by grants from EU, FORMAS, VINNOVA, VR, VTU, SAREC/SIDA, NIF, National Board of Fisheries, Region Västra Götaland and industry.

The research at Food Science is focused on:

• Biological techniques to improve the nutritional, sensorial or functional properties of food or food raw materials.
• Develop model systems to identify bioactive components in food with health beneficial properties, their digestion, interaction and bioavailability in humans.
• Process induced quality changes of foods.