Interdisciplinary research on ’Novel food’

The Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Bayreuth in Kulmbach is - funded by Manfred Roth Stiftung - launching new interdisciplinary research on the supply of proteins through Novel Food. The composition of the disciplines under which Novel Food will be examined is unique: Researchers from the fields of biochemistry, food metabolome, psychology, nutrition sociology, food law and food supply chain management are involved. They will compare the quality of proteins from conventional foods with those from alternative foods. Humans depend on the ingestion of proteins to process their food, which are broken down into amino acids in the gastrointestinal tract. These in turn are absorbed by the organism and serve as molecular building blocks for the production of the body's own proteins, which are essential for life and enable growth and development, among other things. Some amino acids ("essential amino acids") must absolutely be supplied through nutrition, as the human body cannot produce them itself. Traditionally, humans have consumed a large proportion of proteins in the form of meat, fish and dairy products.