So-Plants (Research project)

Narrative

Sarcopenia in the Older post-menopausal Woman - sustainable Plant protein Solutions
SO-PLANTS is a multidisciplinary food science project to produce protein based beverages by blending oat, quinoa, pea and fava bean. These nutritious beverages will be designed specifically for the older consumer. This is a growing population group with estimates suggesting 1.6 million people over the age of 65 living in Ireland by 2051. We know that by simply increasing dietary protein in their diet, we can decrease frailty (and sarcopenia) allowing them to live healthier for longer. To formulate our protein beverages, we will look to food consumption surveys to understand the current protein (and individual amino acid) intake levels of the older adult in Ireland. This will inform beverage formulations. Once produced, the efficacy of the beverages will be tested in the laboratory. We will track protein digestion in the gut, the arrival of amino acids into the bloodstream and assess the health benefits to muscle by using in vitro models. The project will go beyond ‘state of the art’ by developing laboratory models to mimic older adult digestion, an aged gut barrier and atrophic muscle cells. Using our beverages, a nutritional intervention trial will be performed with post-menopausal women. Women are the primary food shoppers in Irish households, are more concerned about sustainability, more prone to taste new foods, more inclined to have food rejections and live longer than men. Our long term vision for SO-PLANTS is that the older adult will replace poor quality foods in their diet with our healthy plant based beverages with a knock-on reduction in frailty. By selecting sustainable plants as our ingredients, SO-PLANTS will positively impact our environment and increase biodiversity in Agriculture, supporting Ireland’s effort to meet the EU GREENDEAL target of climate neutrality by 2050.

This project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Ireland. Grant No. 2023RP920.

Impact status	Open
Category of impact	Academic Impact, Educational Impact, Environmental Impact, Health Impact, Social Impact