News
February 2014
WineSense project "moves" to Oeiras!
In the frame of the WineSense project, an international project in collaboration with the University of Valladolid, Bodega Matarromera SL and Feyecon, our laboratory is currently receiving two researchers from the University of Valladolid.
This project proposes to improve the extraction process to catch most of the active parts of the polyphenols (presents in grapes), to define a suitable formulation for pharmaceutical applications, food, and cosmetics additives based on Solvent Free Microwave Extraction (SMFE), Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE), and emulsion-Template techniques combining high pressure and antisolvent effects. Those are techniques developed for analytical purposes that are being implemented in production processes. The key issue is the adequate control of the kinetics of the process, taking into account the time scales of the various phenomena involved. This is the original and innovative idea behind the advanced template emulsion techniques proposed in this project to increase the solubility of polyphenols.
Esther de Paz, a post-doc researcher will be with us for 10 months
Rut Romero, a PhD student from the University of Valladolid that will be here for 20 months!
Good luck to them!
December 2014
Catarina Maia, former master student from our laboratory was recently recruited by Sumol+Compal as a trainee. Her work will be directly related to Cátia Carmo's PhD project, as she is developing her PhD together with Sumol+Compal to enhance the quality of their products and develop new ones. Good Luck Catarina and Cátia!
March 2014
Aveleda Award 2013
Nutraceuticals and Delivery Lab was awarded a research grant in the 1st Edition of Aveleda Award “White wine & Health” with the scientific project "White wine- a healthy option with positive impact on type 2 diabetes”. The project authored by Catarina Duarte, Teresa Serra, Ana Matias and Rosário Bronze describes the evaluation of the anti-hyperglycemic, antioxidant and anti-obesity effects of several white wines using pre-clinical assays. The study demonstrated that white wines have similar or higher capacity than red wines in inhibiting human digestive system enzymes, namely alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase, that are responsible for the hydrolyzes of dietary sugar and fat molecules. Ongoing research is focused on the identification of phytochemical compounds responsible for this effect. This award was given by Aveleda and aimed at distinguish research projects focused on the evaluation of health benefits of moderate white wine consumption.
October 2013
Partindo da parceria BES/TSF para a 9ª edição do Concurso Nacional de Inovação, Mundo Novo abre a porta à história dos inventos que mudaram o mundo e daqueles que estão a alterar o curso da História, aos projectos em curso nas universidades portuguesas, à inovação e à ciência. Nesta peça a investigadora principal do grupo de Nutracêuticos e Libertação Controlada, Catarina Duarte, fala sobre a utilização de tecnologia com fluídos supercríticos para a recuperação de compostos bioactivos de resíduos da agro-indústria.
June 2013
in frescas 2013.
15th & 29th May 2013
The Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery Lab was present in Cantanhede, during the technical conferences about natural compounds in the food industry. Catarina Duarte, head of the group, was present to talk about "The production of bioactive ingredients from fruit residues and/or surplus using clean technologies".
In the session held at Abrantes, Teresa Serra presented a work about an "Opuntia ficus-indica extract rich in betalains, a natural colorant with bioactive properties."
20th April 2013
ITQB Open Day
Once again, ITQB opened its doors on a sunny April Saturday to provide free moments of fun and science to visitors. Since little children to the elderly, everyone was invited to attend and participate in this annual activity held within the ITQB building. Here are some pictures to illustrate that day!
14-17 April 2013
Alimentaria & Horexpo Lisboa – Salão Internacional da Alimentação, Hotelaria e Tecnologia para a Indústria Alimentar. Food ID&T.
The Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery lab was present in this contest, held within the Alimentaria & Horexpo show in FIL. iBET was also represented in the exhibition. Below are some pictures of the event.
Valor Sob Pressão was the technology brought by our group to this event. This technology aims to recover high value compounds from fruit and vegetable residues or surplus using high pressure technologies and clean solvents. An interview from our group leader, Catarina Duarte on this subject can be heard here.
February 2013
Amorim Cork Research visits iBET and the Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery Lab.
Last February iBET received the visit of the president of Corticeira Amorim, Antonio Rios de Amorim, along with Susana Silva (Head of Amorim Cork Research) and José Pedro Fernandes (head of R&D of Amorim Florestal). The president (António Eusébio) and the CEO (Paula Alves) of iBET welcomed the visitors and reinforced the interest in establishing very close relationships and strengthening the activities between iBET and its partners. The visit was an opportunity to visit our facilities and also to discuss some of Amorim's objectives in terms of R&D, helping iBET team to identify issues that could be a source of new projects, and to enhance even further the collaboration with the Nutraceuticals & Controlled Delivery area, where a project with Amorim Cork Research is being developed since 2011.
in iBET Facts and Figures.
January 2013
Starting in the beginning of 2013, iBET's Nutraceutical group and Sumol+Compal began a new partnership in the research and development area. Cátia Carmo, PhD student of our group, begins to develop new products and add-ons to beverages in order to improve quality and shelf-life. This Doctoral felowship in partnership with a company will be developed for the next 3 years within our lab and Sumol+Compal.
16th October 2012
iBET Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery Lab, in collaboration with Faculty of Pharmacy of Lisbon, was awarded the 1st Honorable Mention in the 3rd Edition of the “Nutrition Awards”, in the category of “ Research and Development”. The awarded project “Bravo de Esmolfe – an apple with a beneficial effect in cardiovascular health” demonstrated that the ingestion of Bravo de Esmlfe is able to significantly reduce biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (ex. values of triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL- cholesterol and oxidized LDL) in an in vivo model, and attributed this effect to the richness in polyphenols and antioxidants of this traditional cultivar. The awarded project was recently published in
a scientific peer-reviewed journal (Food Chemistry 135, 2378-86).
The “Nutrition Awards” are promoted by the Portuguese Association of Nutritionists, along with the GCI group, and aims at awarding and giving visibility to projects in the area of Nutrition in Portugal. The ceremony was held at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian on the 16th October and counted with more than 80 candidates running in 5 categories.
Ana Teresa Serra, João Rocha, Bruno Sepodes, Ana A. Matias, Rodrigo P. Feliciano, Agostinho de Carvalho, M. Rosário Bronze, Catarina C.M. Duarte, M. Eduardo Figueira. Evaluation of cardiovascular protective effect of different apple varieties- correlation of response with composition. Food Chemistry (2012) 135, 2378-2386.
31st May @ iBET/ITQB
Functional Food and Drinks: Challenges & Opportunities for Agrofood Industry
1st Session – Health claims in food and beverage industry
iBET hosted the first 1st conference on health claims for functional food and drinks organized in Portugal. This first session of the conference Functional Food and Drinks: Challenges & Opportunities for Agrofood Industry was organized by Catarina Duarte (iBET) head of the nutraceuticals and controlled delivery lab, along with Isabel Braga da Cruz (PortugalFoods). FIPA (Federation of Portuguese Agrofood Industry) was also associated in the organization and participated in the event. The aim was to discuss different strategies to cope with the EC No.1994/2006 rule, as well as, the role of each stakeholder from the agrofood sector and how they should articulate with the demands and well– being of customers. The agrofood industry sector in Portugal was represented by around 50 attendees, from diverse fields, such as dairy products, drinks, olive oil, salads. Moreover consultancy companies were also present.
This conference was sponsored by AVA Sociede e Advogados, RL, Camâra Municipal de Oeiras, DSM, ITQB, SOVENA ,SUMOL+COMPAL .
“It was the 1st conference of this kind in Portugal, representing an opportunity to get together people both from academia and companies interested in this area. Valuable insights and discussion concerning the health claims regulations, and the challenges and opportunities for the agrofood industry.” , Carmen Pinheiro (Research technical Manager Sumol + Compal)
3rd July @ TecMaia
2nd Session – Market opportunities: The new cycle for Healthy Food
The 2nd session of the conference occurred in July, 3rd, at PortugalFoods (TecMaia), Oporto. Catarina Duarte was one of the speakers, on a session entitled “The strength of the regulation: The rethinking of the industry from the new legislative framework”.
20th October 2011
Teresa Serra was was interviewed by "Jornal do Fundão". The newspaper wanted to know more about the 1st prize on the second edition of the "Nutrition Awards”, in the category of " Innovation and Development of Products and Services”. The interview to read the interview please click here.
17th to 20th October 2011
Our group will be present in 5th International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, which will take place in Barcelona,Spain. "Polyphenolic-rich extracts derived from Prunus avium and Opuntia ficus-indica as natural anti-inflammatory modulators for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases" and "Evaluation of cherry and cactus pear extracts as promising natural chemopreventive and chemosensitization ingredients for colon cancer" poster communications will be presented.
13th to 15 October 2011
The Nutraceuticals and Controlled Release group will be present in the III Congress of the Portuguese Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences and IX Spanish-Portuguese Conference on Controlled Drug Delivery in Oporto, Portugal.
The 3rd Congress of the Portuguese Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences and 9th Spanish-Portuguese Conference on Controlled Drug Delivery and the Pre-Congress Symposium will provide wonderful opportunities for bringing together people from academia, research institutions and pharmaceutical industry to present and discuss research results, practices, experiences and new advances, sharing knowledge in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
9th to 12th October 2011
Our group participated in the 13th European Symposium on Supercritical Fluids - SCF as Product and Process in emerging applications, organized by the ISASF, International Society for Advancement of Supercritical Fluids at the World Forum Convention Center in The Hague, The Netherlands. The group presented a poster communication entitled "Production of solid hybrid structures using scCO2, as potential drug delivery systems for nasal administration".
4 to 5th October 2011
Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery team participated in “Conducting Clinical Trials for Health Claims Substantiation” Conference and Post Conference Workshop at London.
This one day- conference + workshop was organized by FI conferences and offered the opportunity to gain fundamental knowledge about the clinical trial process, as well as hearing updates on EFSA’s developments in this area and how they affect the business. The conference provided the tools needed to successfully conduct a clinical trial as well as a practical insight into chose and select the best partners to ensure success. In the Post Conference Workshop, a practical step-by-step guide on health claims dossier submission was provided.
27th to 30th September 2011
Our Group participated in the International PSE Symposium on “Phytochemicals in nutrition and health”, organized by the Phytochemical Society of Europe at Grand Hotel Riva del Sole, Giovinazzo (Bari), Italy. The group presented a oral communication entitled "Polyphenolic-rich extracts derived from Prunus avium and Opuntia ficus-indica as natural anti-inflammatory modulators for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases".
19th September 2011
Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery Lab, in collaboration with ITQB Analytical Chemistry Lab, and the Particles, Polymers and Biomaterials group from Coimbra University, were awarded the 1st prize of the second edition of the "Nutrition Awards”, in the category of " Innovation and Development of Products and Services”. The awarded project on "Cherry extract obtained from supercritical technology – a chemotherapeutical agent against colon cancer” aims at developing functional ingredients with applications on pharmaceutical and food industry. The Nutraceuticals lab was among 70 participants, running in 7 different categories, of which research groups from food industry, such as PepsiCola Portugal, F.LIMA S.A., JMV S.A. and research groups from Escola Superior Agrária de Beja, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, among others were present. This project is part of the PhD work of Teresa Serra, researcher at the Nutraceuticals lab, headed by the researcher Catarina Duarte. The "Nutrition Awards” are promoted by the Portuguese Association of Nutritionists, along with the GCI group, and aims at awarding and give visibility to projects in the area of nutrition in Portugal. The ceremony was held at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal.
9th June 2011
Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery team participated in the “Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation: Dealing with the present- Planning the future” workshop at Brussels, which was organized by EAS- Strategic advice on nutrition products.
This workshop addressed how food businesses can benefit from what has already been learnt in the claims evaluation process. In addition, the workshop clarified the steps for companies wanting to submit further information on Article 13 claims that are still on the grey list (ex. probiotics and "insufficient" claims), offered tips towards the best chance of a successful claims application to EFSA, and laid out the future playing field for claims in the EU.
12 and 13 of May 2011
The Nutraceuticals group co-organized the 1st Iberian Meeting on Natural Bioactives Entrapment for the Food Industry-Challenges and Perspectives, from nanotechnology to bioavailability. Catarina Duarte presented a oral communication entitled "Bioactivity evaluation for functionality characterization" and Teresa Serra presented a oral communication entitled "Entrapped functional products as natural preservatives". The group presented also poster communications: "Development of Novel Hybrid Delivery Systems using SCF Technology for Enhanced Bioavailability of Antioxidant Compounds" and "Impregnation of Essential Oils into starch-based particles using supercritical Fluid Technology".
10th to 12th May
Nutraceuticals and Controlled Delivery team was at Geneva for attending Vitafoods Europe 2011. Vitafoods Europe Conference is the one of the most important events in the nutraceuticals calendar. For 13 years the conference has brought together the academic and commercial worlds to share the latest research and market information. The key themes of 2011 were: Gut Health and Immunity, Appetite Control, Physical Performance, Heart Health, Mental Performance, Food Allergy and Intolerance, Ingredients from Nature and Beauty Foods.
18th to 20th April 2011
We participated in the Pharma-Nutrition 2011- Discussing the interface between pharma and nutrition, organized by Elsevier at the NH Grand Krasnapolsky, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The poster communication entitled "Bioactive extracts derived from fruits (Prunus avium and Opuntia ficus indica) as potential natural anti-inflammatory modulators in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases" was elected one of the 10 best abstracts. The group also presented a poster communication entitled "Evaluation of cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) extracts as promising bioactive ingredients for colon cancer therapy".
25 and 26 November 2010
The poster communication entitled "Evaluation of bioactive extracts derived from cherries (Prunus avium) and cactus pear (Opuntia ficus indica) as promising natural chemotherapeutic agents", was presented in the 1st UK International Functional Food Conference, Oxford.
16th June 2008
31th January 2008
The conclusions of the project "Projecto 930 - Fitoquímicos e fibras de maçãs de variedades regionais das Beiras e de cultivares exóticas e seus benefícios para a saúde" were presented by the group in a public session at Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade da Beira Interior. This project was a collaboration between Escola Superior de Saúde Egas Moniz (ISCSEM), Cooperativa Agrícola de Mangualde, Ministério da Agricultura, do Desenvolvimento Rural e das Pescas, Direcção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas do Centro, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (IBET), Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa (FF/UL) and Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade da Beira Interior. To see more details please click here.
7th to 8th July 2005
Our group organized a congress entitled "The Role of Supercritical Fluid technology in Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical and Food Processing" , in IBET, Oeiras.
2 to 4 July 2008
Catarina Duarte was present in Ciência 2008 – Encontro com a Ciência em Portugal and presented the communication entiteled "Nutracêuticos / libertação controlada; contributos para uma melhor qualidade de vida". The event was promoted by Laboratórios Associados and by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. The event took place at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa. To see the video from the communication click here.
26 - 27 de Outubro de 2004
