The global food and beverage ingredients and solutions provider will fund the new project, which aims to boost understanding of the effect of dietary fibres on the function of the gut microbiome.
Understanding the impact
APC Microbiome Ireland, a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre, will explore the metabolic pathways that could influence the connection between health and the microbiome. The research will clarify the functional impact across the gut-brain axis. This includes glucose metabolism, immune regulation, tryptophan metabolism and gut hormone secretion, as well as the synbiotic potential of probiotic strains and fibres.
Dr Kavita Karnik, Global Head, Nutrition & Regulatory Affairs at Tate & Lyle, says: “Most people are starting to understand the importance of getting more fibre in their diet, for a host of health and wellbeing benefits, including cardiovascular, immunity, skin and gut health.
“Microbiome research has advanced significantly in the last decade, but there are still many questions to be answered in this area. Understanding how different prebiotic fibres can interact with the functioning of our microbiome will take us one step deeper into understanding how microbiomes can impact various aspects of our health and wellbeing.
"As a science-driven company, we are excited to continue working with APC Microbiome Ireland to build our knowledge and increase the evidence base around the positive role fibres can play in improving public health.”
Further insights
The collaboration will take place over two years at APC Microbiome Ireland’s laboratories in University College Cork.
Leading the project are Dr Harriët Schellekens and Professor Gerard Clarke, APC’s brain-gut-microbiota research investigators. The team also expects to provide further insights into how various prebiotic fibres can positively effect health and the most plausible metabolic pathways to continue exploring this.
Prof Paul Ross, Director APC Microbiome Ireland, adds: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Tate & Lyle following the success of our previous collaboration.
“This project will give an opportunity for APC clinical and microbiome researchers to gain a thorough understanding of how fibre ingestion can benefit health through the microbiome. As such the project will enable Tate & Lyle to further uncover additional health benefits associated with their fibres portfolio.”
The project follows an earlier research partnership between Tate & Lyle and APC Microbiome Ireland in 2019, which identified possible health benefits for various age groups by screening dietary fibres. It also discovered some positive effects of these fibres.