Use technology to firmly hold "happiness on the tip of the tongue"

To safeguard food security and achieve food nutrition and health, arable land is the foundation, and science and technology are the key
.
Safe, healthy, nutritious and delicious food is the guarantee
of "eating a good meal".
Recently, the reporter came to the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology of Jiangnan University to feel how science and technology can ensure that people eat well, eat healthily and eat happily
.

Approaching the future of food, let the cell factory "grow" food

In the artificial climate chamber, precious medicinal plants are bathed in a constant temperature and humidity sun room, and their bodies are pregnant with synthases of key Chinese medicine ingredients, and researchers have produced several Chinese medicine ingredients through yeast fermentation; On the high-throughput screening platform, cell culture plates are waiting for the "robot" to perform efficient screening; On the plant protein meat production line, after rehydration, dehydration, wire removal, and effective integration and compaction with other ingredients, it only takes more than an hour to produce pieces of plant protein meat.
.
.
These are the scientific research scenarios
of the Future Food Science Center of Jiangnan University.
Here, you can see some production methods of future food and taste the flavor
of future food.

"When it comes to future foods, people's first reaction is often plant-based protein meat, but this is only one aspect of
future food research and development.
" Wang Chao, deputy director of the Future Food Science Center of Jiangnan University, told reporters that future food is gradually developed on the basis of traditional food and modern food, which has changed the production mode of traditional food, and people can reduce chronic diseases
by optimizing diet in the future.
In terms of green carbon reduction, they want to minimize greenhouse gas emissions
from aquaculture.
Microbial cultivation and plant cultivation technology have improved the efficiency of traditional livestock and poultry breeding, and through the improvement of raw materials and processing technology, they can cope with the possible global food supply shortage in the future
.

In recent years, plant-based foods have entered thousands of households and are gradually recognized by people, but what cannot be ignored is its allergenicity, peculiar smell, nutritional quality is lower than animal protein and other issues
.
Today, another artificial food, cell-cultured meat, is on its way to market
.
"Although plant-based protein meat is a relatively mature product, it still needs to be continuously improved
.
" Wang Chao said, "We use cell engineering and tissue engineering technology to produce animal muscle and fat by culturing animal cells in bioreactors, commonly known as cell culture meat
.
This 'meat' has a similar nutrition and flavor
to animal meat.
”

Professor Zhou Jingwen of the Future Food Science Center of Jiangnan University introduced that compared with animals and plants, microorganisms have the advantages of
fast growth and high production conversion rate.
The use of modern biotechnology, engineering design concept to transform microorganisms, and then through fermentation for expansion and culture, the formation of large-scale microbial fermentation production
.
They are building cell factories
with efficient and precise food manufacturing capabilities by selecting and constructing cell factory seeds with high yields of target proteins.
Laboratory production of food (medicine) can be realized at present, and it is expected to solve the problem
of sustainable supply of food (medicine) in the future.
In addition, they have realized the fermentation production of a variety of flavonoids through synthetic biology, high-throughput screening and other methods, and realized the efficient heterologous synthesis
of flavonoids in microorganisms.

On September 23, the "Key Technology for Preparation of Cell Culture Pork Belly" by the team of Academician Chen Jian of the Future Food Science Center of Jiangnan University passed the appraisal
of the achievements of the China National Light Industry Federation.
The "pork belly" produced by this technology is closer to
real meat in terms of texture and taste, nutritional flavor and other aspects.
"The research results of the project will play a positive role in promoting the industrialization of cell culture meat, and the cell culture pork belly industry can be expected in
the future.
" Zhou Jingwen said
.

"Our concept of reorganizing food is not to simulate the food that already exists, but to make the quality of food and food better, traceable and controllable
.
" Zhou Jingwen said, "It is true that artificial meat cannot completely replace real meat in nature, but it can certainly replace some
of it.
”

Develop probiotics with independent intellectual property rights to make Chinese people eat healthier

Probiotics are beneficial to the regulation of intestinal balance and improve the health of
the body.
In recent years, with the increasing application of probiotics in the treatment of cancer, metabolic diseases, oral diseases, allergic diseases and other fields, probiotics have increasingly become the focus of life and health, and the development of probiotic series functional foods has become an important development trend
.

The "Probiotic Science and Technology" team of Jiangnan University, led by Chen Wei, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Jiangnan University, has been engaged in the physiological function of probiotics, the research of probiotic characteristics, the fermentation and industrialization of probiotics for many years, and excavated the secrets
of probiotics.

Professor Liu Xiaoming, a member of the "Probiotic Science and Technology" team, told reporters that everyone is familiar with probiotics, but there are not many
strains that really come from China in the fermented milk we drink.
Compared with Europe and the United States, the research and application of probiotics in China started late
.
The study found that the structure of the intestinal flora of Chinese and foreigners is different
.
Excellent probiotics born in China, more suitable for "Chinese gut"
.
"We are carrying out research and development of probiotics with independent intellectual property rights in China
.
"

So, where do China's native probiotics come from and how to develop them? This is a "stuck neck" problem
in the industry.
In order to collect more probiotics, the Probiotics Science and Technology team has done a lot of work
.
"We will regularly travel to Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Yunnan, Guangxi and other places to collect local people's dairy products, fermented foods, extract probiotics from them, and when necessary, collect local residents' excrement
.
" Liu Xiaoming told reporters that the collection site of probiotics must be a pristine and hidden natural ecology that is not polluted, which can better ensure the safety and scientific research requirements of
the strain.
With years of development, probiotics themselves are actually constantly evolving, leaving behind some strains
that are more adapted to the human body.

After collecting probiotics, the team will genetically sequence the strains, and then after a series of screening, identification and scientific research, the strains with clear sources and excellent efficacy can be selected so that these high-quality strains can be produced on a large scale and commercially applied
.
"Under normal circumstances, it takes 2 years or more
to screen out a qualified probiotic.
" Liu Xiaoming introduced, "We found that probiotics are actually very interesting, by regulating the human intestinal flora can play a lot of roles, for example, in Hubei Zhongxiang found in Hubei Zhongxiang Bifidobacterium youth (CCFM8630), can lower blood sugar and reduce fat, prevent diabetes, relieve metabolic syndrome, found in Guangxi Bama Lactobacillus (CCFM8631), can regulate blood sugar, lower cholesterol, alleviate metabolic syndrome, found in Chongqing plantarum (CCFM1137), can resist periodontal disease, Relieving bad breath and cleaning the mouth, these customized probiotic formulas can be improved and industrialized after
clinical trials.
”

In the collaborative innovation center of Jiangnan University, there is a special laboratory, which is a row of cabinets, maintaining a certain temperature and humidity, here is the largest probiotic patent culture bank in the country, but also the "germplasm resource bank" of probiotics.

Up to now, more than 25,000 strains have been collected here, including 200 patented and patented probiotics, and the germplasm resources cover all the cultures in the
food-usable culture catalog.

"What is very exciting is that now the domestic probiotic market has increasingly used strains
with local independent intellectual property rights.
At present, China's probiotic patent applications account for 26% of the world's total applications, second only to the United States
.
Chen Wei said that in the future, the team will more scientifically and accurately explain the function of probiotics and their mechanism of action, which must have obvious physical sensations at the consumer level and data evidence
at the scientific research level.
Only by finding or seeing these key substances that regulate the intestinal barrier, intestinal immunity, and specific microbiota can probiotics really show that they are working
.
"It is believed that in the near future, the types of probiotic products will also transition from ordinary foods such as fermented milk to comprehensive and refined applications
in many fields such as functional foods, microecological preparations and drugs, and functional daily chemicals.
"

Build a big food concept and use technology to firmly hold the "happiness on the tip of the tongue"

Recently, the World Food Programme warned that the global food crisis continues to deepen, with a surge in global hunger in the first few months of 2022 alone, and the world may face another record year
of hunger.
Countries and regions such as China, the United States, the European Union and Japan have raised the development of food biotechnology to a strategic height
.

"As scientific researchers in the food industry, we must focus on making people 'eat well'
.
" Chen Jian, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief scientist of the Future Food Science Center, said
.
In his view, transforming biological principles into advanced industrialization elements and applying them to food processing will become one of the important trends in the development of
the food industry in the future.
"To ensure the strategic security of food and transform the food effect, we need to look at our research
from a higher level.
"

Chen Jian pointed out that in recent years, the level of food science and technology research and development in China has been continuously enhanced, and the level of basic research has been significantly improved, and a new development pattern
of trinity of basic research and cutting-edge technological innovation, key common technology development, and systematic product manufacturing technology integration has been initially formed.
However, there is a gap between the scientific research strength of China's food industry and developed countries, insufficient research efforts in frontier fields, some key core technologies have not yet broken through, and important equipment products still exist
.
"Food, food and people's yearning for a better life are closely related
.
Under such circumstances, we should all the more be prepared for danger in times of peace and be self-reliant
.
Chinese love of food is what drives us to strive for excellence
.
The huge domestic market and complete industrial industry chain also give us confidence
.
We can believe that with the mastery and application of synthetic biology manufacturing technology, the traditional way
of food production and supply is being subverted.
The use of synthetic biology to realize the concept and technological innovation of synthetic starch not only has a revolutionary impact on future agricultural production, especially food production, but also has milestones
for the development of the global biomanufacturing industry.
”

The people take food as the sky
.
Good future food can only realize the meaning of
the food industry if it goes out of the laboratory and goes to the people's table, so that people can eat well and eat healthy.
Therefore, the production, education and research of the food industry can be most perceived
by the people.
Chen Jian said that giving full play to the role of the two core elements of universities and enterprises plays an important role
in the innovation of the food industry.
"Discovery" is the university's primary task in scientific and technological innovation, and it is the key link
to achieve "from scratch".
"Development" is the primary task of enterprises in innovation, and it is an important link
to achieve "from there to good".
The "discovery" link in university science and technology research is closely linked with the "development" link in the transformation of enterprise science and technology, and promotes the development of
the food industry.

"With the rapid rise of technologies such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, big data and advanced manufacturing, food science is ushering in a 'golden age'
of great development.
As an important combination point of science and technology first productive force and talent first resource, colleges and universities shoulder the dual mission
of cultivating innovative talents and improving innovation capabilities.
Chen Wei told reporters, "At this stage, we must get out of the traditional concept of food as soon as possible, and gradually establish and scientifically build the 'big food concept', so that food security is more stable, food nutrition is more comprehensive, food production is more low-carbon, food science and technology is more future-oriented, and 'food education' education is more popular, so as to firmly maintain the people's 'happiness on the tip of the tongue'
.
" 。 "Jiangnan University will deeply study and implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Party, further focus on the people's food safety and nutrition health, take the first-class discipline "food science and engineering" as the support, focus on food nutrition and health, food processing and intelligent manufacturing, food safety and quality control and other disciplines closely related to the industry, accelerate key core technology research, break through the bottleneck of food science and technology, promote the innovation and development of the food industry, and make new and greater contributions
to the exploration of the modernization of the food industry.
(Editor Li Chuang)