University of Helsinki
As highlighted in our previous blog post, food and pharmaceutical industries could utilize birch- and spruce-derived hemicelluloses and lignin in future. In addition to their promising emulsion stabilizing properties, the fiber- and polyphenol-rich birch and spruce extracts could be good for our gut health. Therefore, the effects of wood-derived extracts on gut health are the focus of the GOOD project. This project has recently received funding from the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. Doctoral student Emma Kynkäänniemi, postdoctoral researcher Maarit Lahtinen, university lecturer Anne-Maria Pajari and assistant professor Kirsi Mikkonen form a good project team!
A group of rats got an exciting addition to their diets: polyphenol-rich birch extract. The diet was tasty and all the rats gained weight normally. Next, we will investigate the effects of the feeding period on gut health, analyzing, for example, the gut microbiota and their metabolites from the fecal samples of the rats. The results of the GOOD project will bring us many steps closer to the goal of transforming wood into food.