PomTex

Projectname:
Development of innovative dietary fiber ingredients with improved texturizing properties from fruit pomaces

Workgroup: Plant-based foods

Research Partner and Scientific Guidance:

  1. Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineeringand and Packaging IVV Freising, Sérgio Henrique de Toledo e Silva
  2. in cooperation with University of Campinas – UNICAMP und Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos – ITAL, Brasilien

IGF: 01IF00387C
Financing: BMWK
Duration: 2024-2026

Dietary fibers have gained attention for their health benefits and their ability to enhance the texture, quality, and stability of food products. However, food processors face the challenge to find affordable, clean-label, and functional dietary fiber ingredients that meet consumer demands. Currently, only a few options of dietary fiber ingredients are commercially available and mostly derived from corn, wheat, peas, and citrus fruit. However, dietary fiber ingredients might not be consumer-friendly, as some of them are obtained from unfamiliar sources, as in the case of wheat fibers from wheat straw. Therefore, broadening the sources of consumer-friendly dietary fibers can increase the availability of healthy food ingredients and boost the introduction of fiber-enriched foods to the market.

The aim of the German-Brasilian cooperation in PomTex project is to develop innovative ingredients using pomaces from economically relevant fruits from Germany and Brazil. The project seeks to identify suitable raw materials and processing strategies for clean-label dietary fibers with excellent gelling, thickening, structuring and stabilization properties. To achieve this, an extensive investigation of dietary fibers from various fruit pomaces will be conducted. This will help to select new raw materials for innovative dietary fiber ingredients. The project will also develop mild extraction methods and assess their effects on the composition, functionality, and sensory properties of dietary fibers in comparison to commercially available ingredients. Extrusion technology will be applied to modify the structural and functional properties of pomaces and fractionated dietary fibers. The best ingredients resulting from those processes will be utilized in food application trials, where their performance will be compared to fiber rich foods and potential applications will be mapped.

In the PomTex project, three research institutions will collaborate to assist companies in the field of enzyme selection, extrusion, ingredient suppliers, fruit processors, and food manufacturers, ensuring the success and transfer of the results into industry. Therefore, the PomTex project will leverage the use of pomaces as innovation drivers, benefiting agricultural and food industries from Germany and Brazil.

The IGF project presented here by the Research Association of the Industrial Association for Food Technology and Packaging (IVLV e.V.) is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the program for the promotion of industrial community research (IGF) based on a decision of the German Bundestag.