BASIC NUTRITION

• Staff
  • Laboratory Head
  • Scientific Staff
  • Research Staff
  • Administrative Staff
  • Students
• FOODplus Research Centre
• Research Project
  1. Regulation of n-3 LCPUFA Biosynthesis in vivo
  2. Developing new methods to measure n-3 LCPUFA in human blood samples
  3. Determining the effect of maternal n-3 LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy on fat mass in the offspring in a rodent model
  4. Developing low fat baked goods

STAFF

Laboratory Head

Professor Robert Gibson
Ph: 08 8303 4333
Email: robert.gibson@adelaide.edu.au

Scientific Staff

Research Staff

Administrative Staff

Students

FOODPLUS RESEARCH CENTRE

FOODplus Research Centre is a joint venture between WCHRI and the University of Adelaide.

The vision of FOODplus is to improve human health through research excellence that links food, nutrition and sustainable agriculture.

Our goal is to act as a bridge between agriculture and health through improving the nutrient content of foods through a sound understanding of biological mechanisms and the effect of processing and storage on nutrient content.

The headquarters of FOODplus is located on the Waite campus of the University of Adelaide. Currently we are spread across several locations, however, renovations are about to start to allow us to concentrate our activities in the main Waite Building.

The Waite-based laboratories house several research groups including Lipid Biochemistry, Grains and Health, Healthy Meats, Fuels from Food Waste and Food Chain Economics. Waite Analytical Services is also associated with FOODplus. Both the Lipid Biochemistry group; headed by Beverly Muhlhausler and Waite Analytical Services; headed by Teresa Fowles, play an important role in providing technical and analytical support to the clinical trials teams based at WCHRI.

The beautiful Waite campus has attracted many institutions including the Australian Wine Research Institute, the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, and the South Australian Research and Development Institute. It also hosts five CSIRO divisions including Land and Water, Plant Industry, Ecosystem Sciences, Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics and Process Science and Engineering. This extends the range of expertise available to members of FOODplus and the WCHRI.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

1. Regulation of n-3 LCPUFA Biosynthesis in vivo

The use of aquaculture to preserve wild fish stocks is currently limited by the fact that most farmed fish do not produce their own n-3 LCPUFA, so must be fed with fish meal. Work in 2010 has focussed on characterising the properties of the enzymes which control n-3 LCPUFA synthesis in Barramundi, with the ultimate goal of identifying fish species which are able to synthesis their own n-3 LCPUFA from plant-oils.

2. Developing new methods to measure n-3 LCUFA in human blood samples

Current methods for measuring n-3 LCPUFA in human blood are costly and time consuming, and this limits the capacity to assess these measures in large scale clinical trials. We are working to develop more time and cost-efficient method for assessing these fatty acids in minimal volumes of starting material.

3. Determining the effect of maternal n-3 LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy on fat mass in the offspring in a rodent model

The n-3 LCPUFA have been reported to reduce fat accumulation in adults and cell culture models by limiting both the hypertrophic and hyperplastic expansion of adipose depots. This study of maternal n-3 supplementation in a rodent model aims to determine whether increasing the supply of n-3 fatty acids during the perinatal period results in reduced accumulation of body fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity in the offspring after birth.

4. Developing low fat baked goods

Conventional commercial short-crust pastry formulations include 30-55% of the flour weight as fat, however we have found that it is possible to reduce the fat content of pastry substantially by relacing some of the added fat with flour milled from a novel type of durum wheat, with a low fat content, without loss of quality. Studies are currently focussed on the evaluating the textural and sensory attributes and potential health properties of these low-fat pastry products.

Dr Colin Jenner monitoring the temperature of bread dough