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FUNPRO Project

Functional products based on goat’s milk proteins and bioactive compounds extracted from grape pomace and edible mushrooms

Goat’s milk production is growing industry worldwide due to its beneficial properties compared to cow’s milk (lower allergenicity, better digestibility, valuable bioactive peptides). Furthermore, goat’s milk can be used as carrier for functional components. Nonetheless, the functional benefits of this food matrix still remain unexplored. On the other hand, the use of grape pomace polyphenols and edible mushrooms extracts that possess broad range of biological activities as food ingredient is limited due to their poor solubility, stability and bioavailability. These problems may be overcame by binding bioactive compounds with goat’s milk proteins. Thus, FUNPRO will develop new multipurpose high value functional milk protein products (FMPP) using goat’s milk, wine waste (from autochthonous and international grape varieties) and/or edible mushrooms (wild growing and commercially available) in an innovative way, in line with consumer’s needs. These products will be characterized by FTIR, SEM, spectrophotometric, electrophoretic and LC-MS techniques.
Three types of FMPP with different techno-functional (solubility, emulsifying/foaming properties, water/oil holding capacity), functional (antioxidant, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory) and food preservative (antibiofilm and antimicrobial) properties will be developed using experimental design methodology. These products will be added to goat’s yoghurt, goat’s cheese and dehydrated soups to enhance their functionality, texture, structure, sensory attributes, digestibility and shelf life. Furthermore, FUNPRO will engage an organic mushroom producer to develop new technology for edible mushroom production. The development of new FMPP will extend the knowledge on food compound interactions, structure, formulation and digestion, increase the application of goat’s milk, grape pomace and edible mushrooms in the food industry, increase the wine waste utilization, improve consumer’s welfare and develop organic mushroom production.