Development of novel functional ingredients: Need for testing systems and solutions with Caenorhabditis elegans

• Functional foods is a fast-growing segment, with great room for innovation.
• Their borderline nature makes these products attractive to food and pharma companies.
• Food health claims bring regulatory and technical needs, including models for testing.
• Different in vivo testing models have traditionally been used in food and pharma.
• Caenorhabditis elegans is well-suited for screening and functional tests with food ingredients.

BackgroundNutrition is increasingly understood as a means of maintaining health and well-being and the market for functional foods keeps growing in double-digits. Functional nutrition is seen by many as the interphase between food and pharmaceuticals. In fact, players from both sides are increasingly making moves in the form of strategic alliances, M&A operations and co-investments which are bringing the two realms closer together.Food regulations to prove safety of novel ingredients or to support health claims are every day more stringent and the general public is also increasingly informed about the science, risks and benefits of what they eat. All this presents a magnificent opportunity for innovation and differentiation in the food industry, but also demands more investment, effort and rigour in its R&D.In programmes that also resemble pharmaceutical discovery and development, having high-throughput, appropriate models for screening, functional and mechanistic testing of novel ingredients will be crucial for success.Scope and approachThe most widespread in vitro and in vivo testing systems used in food and pharma, from cell cultures to rats, were assessed with regard to the most relevant aspects for novel functional ingredient discovery and development.Key findings and conclusionsAmongst all the testing and screening systems analysed, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans seems to be the one offering the most advantages for early preclinical studies due to its time and cost efficiency, high degree of similarity with human genetics and metabolism, ease of handling, scalability and regulatory status.