MEDWHEALTH - Mediterranean Diet with Improved Nutritional and Health Value

One of the biggest challenges currently facing humanity is noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which are spread on the entire globe, with an increasing trend in low- and middle-income countries. Of the 57.7 million deaths that occurred worldwide in 2017, about 41 million (71%) were due to noncommunicable diseases, principally cardiovascular diseases (43.5%), cancer (22%), chronic respiratory diseases (9.5%) and diabetes (4%). The list of key “behavioral risk factors” in NCDs incidence, reported from WHO, includes, together with harmful use of alcohol, tobacco use and physical inactivity, the dietary behavior. In the last few decades dietary habits of the population have been strongly influenced by an increasing consumption of ready meals (fast food; junk food) rich in sugar and fat and low in essential nutrients, thus contributing to overweight and obesity. In this scenario, it is highly desirable to boost correct diet habits such as the “Mediterranean Diet”, a diet-based lifestyle spread in Mediterranean areas, defined as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO, recognized as useful in the health maintenance and diseases prevention.

. This research line is designed to develop novel durum-based foods traditional of the Mediterranean area by using innovative wheat materials and processes: i) high amylose durum wheat to improve fiber content, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties; ii) soft durum wheat to improve sustainability, nutritional and technological quality; iii) meal flours from other cereals and legumes to improve mineral content, protein content and composition.

Information and data gathered from fields, laboratories, sensorial analyses, and piloting processing plants will be used to assess the production costs and environmental impact of new products. These estimates will be used to evaluate the potential development of a new value chain based on re- formulated products against the conventional durum wheat-based products, focusing on the gains that downstream value chain actors can achieve.

UPDATES

In 2022, a movie showcasing our gender research was released: Harnessing the power of collective documented activities conducted under the PRIMA MEDWEALTH project with women cooperatives, related to leadership training, certification, and improving market access.