European Project LUPICARP: Innovative functional foods based on sweet lupin protein for cardiovascular prevention

Seeds of Lupinus albus (white lupin) have been used as food by the Mediterranean populations for over 3,000 years. Other lupin species like the narrow leaf lupin (L. angustifolius) and the yellow lupin (L. luteus) are used for food as well. The high protein content (about 35-40 %) indicates that lupin has the potential to become a useful source of protein ingredients to be exploited in replacement for milk, egg, or soybean proteins. Lupin has some characteristics that may be positively considered by consumers and food industry: the content of antinutritional factors is lower than in other legumes, the level of phytoestrogens is negligible, the bean-like flavor is rather faint and no genetically modified varieties are commercially available. Other favorable features are related to their key technological functionalities, i.e. capability of stabilizing emulsions and foams, and the cost optimization. The objective of the project LUPICARP is to assess the health benefits on dislipidemia prevention of innovative food products based on lupin proteins. The core research activity is the implementation of a multicenter randomized dietary intervention study with LDL-cholesterol as main end-point aimed to compare the hypolipidemic effect of lupin proteins vs. animal proteins. Other specific activities are dedicated to study the lupin protein profiles in the food products. Inflammatory and metabolic markers are analyzed and a specific investigation will assess the change in cholesterol metabolism. The project include also product development and optimization, with particular reference to the nutrition profiles, since this is a requirement of the health claim approval. The composition of the LUPICARP consortium ensures that all necessary scientific, technical and managerial competences and roles required for the success of the project are adequately covered. The LUPICARP consortium is composed of 11 members: five lupin food manufacturers Dominae Trading SRL (SME), De Korte Weg BV (SME), Meatless BV (SME), Natural Crunch SL (SME) and Alimentos Funcionales y de Origen Traditional SL (SME); one lupin ingredient producer Terrena; and five RTD performers Universita’ degli Studi di Milano, Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda, Helsingin Yliopisto, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and HPF-Nutraceutics SRL. Web-site: www.lupicarp.eu.