By Suzy Powell, Interface

Do you know your prozymes from your prebiotics?

The health of our gut is a complicated business, and one which has prompted a huge amount of research, leading to the development of new products aimed at everything from increasing fibre intake to balancing hormones.

The science behind developing innovative food and drinks is important – not just from a consumer point of view, but for health benefits claims and legal requirements.

Collaborating with academic experts is often a key element of a business’s strategy in creating healthier products.

Several Scottish universities, research institutes and colleges have dedicated departments led by teams of experts focusing on food and drink development with food labs, tasting panels and testing equipment, however expertise can be found throughout Scotland’s institutes.

The team at Interface has more than a gut feeling about where – and how – to find the right expertise to help organisations develop, test and analyse products, with extensive connections and networks to support research and development.

Partnering with Edinburgh Napier University, Moray-based Gut Feelings make small batch production of flavoured Kombucha. Founder, Hannah Taylor, said: “Kombucha is a fermented drink, believed to provide healthy micronutrients and beneficial bacteria which can help to detoxify, aid digestion and strengthen immunity. However, very little research exists which can substantiate these claims.

“I wanted to work with an academic partner, with expertise in food science and microbiology, to establish the bacterial composition of the drink and to undertake an analysis of the product to determine and quantify the antimicrobial effects of the drink on human health.”

One of the academic partners at Edinburgh Napier University, Dr Sophie Foley, added: “The project with Gut Feelings used DNA sequencing technology and data analysis, which the company had found difficult to source commercially, to analyse the microbiome of their produce.

“As they scale up production, the company will be able to use the new information they have gained from analysis, confident that the microbiome is not impacted with alterations to production and that the potential health benefits remain intact with increased volumes.”

One company tackling gluten intolerance is Edinburgh based biotech, Prozymi Biolabs Ltd, which has turned to academic expertise multiple times throughout their innovation journey towards better tasting gluten-safe foods.

They have developed a pioneering method to craft bread and baked goods using a new enzyme technology that degrades gliadin, the protein that causes food sensitivities.

Through Interface, the company have embarked on several research collaborations with Queen Margeret University, Scotland’s Rural College, Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh and Stirling University, to support their development.

The collaboration with University of Edinburgh was so impressive, it won the Innovation of the Year in the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2024. The partners developed a pipeline for identification and characterisation of novel gluten-degrading enzymes using mass spectrometry.

South African company Nutrigo, a spin-out from Tshwane University of Technology, secured funding through the Inward Investment Catalyst Fund to partner with Abertay University’s Food Technology Centre of Excellence to develop Niselo, a sorghum- based non-dairy and vegan probiotic enriched drinking yoghurt. Originally developed to fight malnutrition across sub-Saharan Africa, the partners re-imagined, repurposed and repositioned Niselo for an upcoming launch into the UK free-from consumer sector through new Scottish company, BiaGo Ltd in late 2024.  

With a characteristically “sharp and yoghurt like” fresh taste, the UK Niselo vegan probiotic drink contains both African and European gluten free grains (sorghum, millets and /or oats) coupled with precisely cultured probiotic bacteria (lactobacillus spp.) to support “gut health”, digestion and leverage an increasing body of evidence that the diverse flora and fauna within our microbiome strongly influence human health and wellbeing (immune system, digestion etc.). 

Sorghum drinks are new to the UK market and Prof David Katerere, Co-founder of BiaGo Ltd, CEO of Nutrigo SA Pty, said: “Our R&D collaborations with Abertay University have been crucial throughout the proof of concept and pre-launch process for Niselo, especially in understanding the UK consumer need through sensory evaluation and careful product formulation to match against challenging consumer expectation.

“Around 94% of the UK population eats less than the UK government recommended amount of fibre of 30g per adult a day; with additional funding through Interface and the Food and Drink Federation Scotland’s Healthier Products Innovation Fund, a range of new products co-developed with Abertay and fortified with fibre and higher protein levels will come to market in 2025 through BiaGo as the team continues their collaboration with the expertise and first class food and drink facilities within Abertay University.”

These innovative projects were awarded funding through Interface, which manages tailored funding programmes for inward investment, food and drink and innovation, with partners including Scottish Government, Scotland Food and Drink, the Scottish Food and Drink Federation and Scottish Funding Council. To find out more about funding opportunities for research and development please visit our website.

Photo by Greg Macvean shows Prozymi Biolabs Ltd co-founder Ioannis Stasinopoulos and team member Niki Christopoulou at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards earlier this year.