The application in 2010 of EC Regulation No. 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims for food products throws down a real challenge to food industries. From this date, all claims must be authorised and proven.

In this context, the UMT aims to improve and develop analytical methods enabling it to identify and quantify compounds with nutritional value (present or added to the food), to determine the future of these compounds (stability, deterioration, bioavailability) and to acquire knowledge on the nutritional composition of food, in order to promote, improve and develop food products.

This UMT is located in Strasbourg.

Three research themes are under investigation: Lactic probiotics and bioactive bacterial peptides constitute a major axis in development of the world market in dairy products. Research aims to develop a comprehensive proteomic analytical method, in order to differentiate probiotic strains from the rest of the microbial flora and to understand certain mechanisms of probiotic-host interaction.

Various research on phospholipids has highlighted their value in preventing cerebral ageing, leading some manufacturers to supplement their products with phospholipids. Developments around this theme consist of perfecting a method of analysis enabling the characterisation of sources rich in phospholipids (molecular families and species) that present one or more fatty acids which are valuable on the nutritional level, as well as evaluating the stability of these sources with regard to oxidation during a food product’s manufacturing or storage process.

Chalcones are polyphenols with high added value for health thanks to their diverse antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-infection properties. A method of analysis specific to extraction is being developed in order to identify, measure and characterise raw materials containing chalcones, in order to evaluate the impact of manufacturing processes on the stability of these compounds.