CFTRI will create hub to support wellness industry

Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) celebrated its foundation day by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the creation of a Nutra-Phyto Incubation Centre and Common Instrumentation Facility (NPIC_CIF) with the IT, BT and S&T Department of the Karnataka government. The CFTRI, established on this day 64 years’ ago and functioning under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),  also inaugurated a ‘Lipidomics Centre’ on the occasion.

In the project mode at its campus for the betterment of industries in the emerging areas of nutraceuticals and functional foods which are beneficial to human health, the proposed NPIC_CIF park facilitates the discovery and development of new products and innovative technologies by establishing laboratories, pilot plant facilities, analytical testing and safety studies for promoting entrepreneurs, and SHGs and SMEs. The facility will also be made available to farmers for processing agri-produce for value-addition.

The major objectives of the centre are focused research initiatives for functional foods and nutraceuticals, facilitate incubation facility for entrepreneurs, provide testing and safety evaluation studies, promote SMEs, and catalyse employment generation. Its primary mission is to create a world-class hub to catalyse research and innovations in the area of nutraceuticals to support the growth of wellness industry in Karnataka.

The Lipidomics Centre will be a nodal centre for advanced studies in lipid science which could become a standalone institution dedicated to the study of bioactive lipids.

Its focus covers the extension of aging with food molecules, possibility of reducing weight with molecules from oilseeds and substituting leaf vegetable for fish oil which is delivered from the tissues of oily fish containing omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Omega-3 fatty acids prevent risk of heart disease and the Centre’s research will be towards obtaining omega-3 fatty acid from a vegetarian source.

Presiding over the celebration, CFTRI-CSIR Director Ram Rajasekharan said, India is one of the countries highly-affected by obesity and its associated diseases like diabetes, inflammation, cardiovascular among others, resulting in a reduced life, which was a major concern. It is established that many of these diseases are related to metabolism, especially lipids.

Triacylglycerides, the major storage lipid, are the long chain fatty acids, otherwise known as fats/oils. Fats and oils are essential nutrients in the human diet, and oil in particular is one of the unavoidable components in our food.

However, it cannot be eliminated from our diet as they serve as building blocks of biological membranes and storage of energy. Depending upon their quantity and quality in the diet, they play a critical role in the human health.

CSIR-CFTRI was working towards preparing healthy foods along with the development of the required technology which includes processing and preservation. It was interested in understanding the role of lipids and its relation to lifestyle-mediated disorders, particularly obesity.

Accordingly, CSIR granted the XIIth Five Year Plan project which was initiated in 2012, he said.