Whole foods – components from crops that are usually discarded in modern food production — could be the key to making our food more nutritious, affordable, sustainable and filling.In a new Nature Food study, University of Guelph food scientist Dr. Alejandro Marangoni describes a model that encourages designing food “from field to colon.”
This method would incorporate raw plant materials from the start, such as seeds, pulps, husks or microbial elements, while considering their impact on digestion, gut health and nutrient absorption.
Most food processing, the study says, relies on purified ingredients like protein isolates and additives — a method that drives up costs, reduces nutritional value and creates waste.
Researchers propose a new approach that embraces, rather than discards, the natural complexity of plant-based ingredients, incorporating fibres, micronutrients and bioactive compounds.
Their idea came from experiments on developing food.
“We were trying to make plant-based cheese,” Marangoni says, Department of Food Science. “The industry standard is to use protein isolates — expensive and highly processed. But we succeeded using flours and concentrates, cutting costs by 75% while retaining full functionality.”
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