Doctor Marcel Karabín from the Department of Biotechnology at UCT Prague, is one of the successful researchers at our university who has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR). His project focuses on studying the interactions between starch and polyphenols during the extrusion process, which combines pressure-thermal treatment and kneading. The outcome could lead to foods with "programmable" digestibility, contributing to the prevention of lifestyle diseases and the improvement of healthy fermented food quality. His work represents a significant step not only for the food industry but also for the advancement of Czech science, which the GAČR has been supporting for many years.
How would you describe your project to a layperson in a few sentences? Why it is important?
During extrusion, which is a process combining pressure heat treatment and kneading, significant changes occur in the structure of starch and its interactions with other molecules—in our case, polyphenols. This leads to the formation of structurally interesting macromolecular complexes with different levels of resistance to the action of enzymes such as digestive ones. Starchy materials that these complexes contain can be a raw material for a new generation of foods (for example, pastries or pasta) with tailored digestibility. This can be interesting both in relation to the prevention of some modern-era diseases and for higher production of healthier fermented foods and beverages.
What inspired you to choose this topic? Was it a specific challenge you wanted to address, or a kind of natural continuation of your previous work?
I will be totally honest. In addition to the (at least I hope) natural need of every scientist to somehow contribute to the development of knowledge about a particular issue, the topic also made sense for economic reasons. The reality of the current, deeply underfunded scientific environment and especially in the relation to the new system of financing doctoral students, is that applying for and obtaining grants is a necessary prerequisite to ensure functioning of any research team. Funding also determines how one choses a research topic, which must be original and beneficial enough to withstand the grant proposal evaluation process. This context led us to this topic, which—in its own way—is somewhat different from the strictly applied topics we usually deal with in the malting and brewing sector. However, this topic definitely has the potential to influence the development of brewing technology.
What is the main goal of your research?
To understand in detail the physicochemical laws for the interaction of starch and polyphenol antioxidants occurring at elevated temperatures. Without understanding this, it is not possible to specifically influence the rate of formation of emerging complexes—typically resistant forms of starch—and their properties, such as digestibility, fermentability, and antioxidant properties.
What do you think captured the selection committee’s attention the most?
I think that, apart from the topic being interesting, it was mainly the complex structure of the proposal. The project involves three teams of experts from three different research units with a wide range of competencies and equipment enabling detailed and successful management of the entire investigation landscape. I will also not hide the fact that this is my first “independent” grant on this scale, so I feel a little stress although I have no doubt that we will manage to reach the project goals in a way we can be proud of.
Will the project lead to any specific applications or technologies?
At this stage, it is too early to speculate, which is the case with most basic research projects that do not directly target specific applications. But of course, we have a vision that, at some point in the future, the data we will obtain could help produce cheaper/higher quality raw materials for the food industry or perhaps related to the production of bioethanol.
What makes your project unique? (For example: Does it utilize any unique tools or technologies? Will new ones need to be developed?)
The project does not include completely new and customized techniques. However, the use of extrusion to produce composite materials composed of individual cereal macromolecules and polyphenols is a relatively original approach.
With whom are you collaborating on the project?
Other collaborating partners are the UCT Prague Department of Carbohydrates and Cereals and the Research Institute of Brewing and Malting.
What obstacles or challenges do you anticipate during the project? Do you already have strategies for overcoming them?
The biggest challenge in this project is that the interactions between starch and polyphenols are very complex and there is currently no direct method for analysing them. Implementing the project will require a coordinated approach for many indirect analyses. Namely, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractometry, and so on.
What brings you the most joy in working on this project?
Two things: first, I am glad that our team was able to create a “thought structure” and project plan that resonated with proposal reviewers, enabling us to succeed in this very competitive call for proposals. Second, there is an economic aspect, though not so much because of me personally. I am glad that the project will, for three years, hopefully allow early career researchers and postgraduate students to acquire competencies without worrying about immediate budgetary problems. Without this support for early career researchers and students, improving the quality of Czech research would not be possible.
What theoretically, should happen with your research after the project is completed? (e.g., implementation of a technology or patent, follow-up research)
Although I have already emphasized that it is quite difficult to predict these things with basic research, I hope that the application of the knowledge gained during the project in specific food technologies will be possible in the future. Another possible field of implementation could be research about nutritional benefits.