Discovery of biomarkers for intake of heat-treated foods by untargeted metabolomics

Time
20 November 2020, 13:00

Place
Digital defence.

Meeting URL: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/67334026033

Meeting ID: 673 3402 6033

Opponents
Professor Christian Mølgaard, (chair), Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Professor Nils J. Færgeman, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.

Professor Marjukka Kolehmainen, Food and Health, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Finland.

Main supervisor
Professor Lars Ove Dragsted, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Co-supervisor
Professor Jie Chen, Department of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, China.

About the thesis
Tubers are widely consumed staple food high in carbohydrate, while dairy products are nutrient-rich and an important protein source. Heat treatment is widely used method for processing of tubers and milk. Heating directly affects the nutritional value and potentially also the health effects of the food. Some compounds formed by heating, indicative of Maillard reactions may serve as biomarkers of food intake (BFIs). These could be useful tools, complementary to traditional methods of dietary assessment, for investigating relationships between heat-treated foods and human health.

This thesis aimed to identify the biomarkers for intake of heat-treated potato products and skimmed milk powder. For this, a threefold strategy was applied. Firstly, a systematical review of the literature was performed to obtain already published biomarkers of different tubers and tuber processed products including potato. Then, experimental work using mass spectrometry was executed to discover urinary biomarkers for intake of different heat-treated potato products in a randomized controlled cross-over intervention meal study. The untargeted metabolomics approach again was applied to identify discriminating metabolites (e.g. new advanced glycation endproducts) of heat-treated skimmed milk powder in 24 h urine samples collected from a rat study.

Read more: https://nexs.ku.dk/english/calendar/2020/phd_xiaomin-zhou/