Nature converts molecules into edible structures, most of which are then transformed into products in factories and dishes in the kitchen, perceived with our senses and come into our bodies where they are converted back into useful molecules that we call nutrients. The fact that we eat structures has added a new dimension to the sciences of food and nutrition, realizing that the value of many foods lie in their microstructure. In fact, the functionality of raw materials and foods varies as they move from the farm to our cells. This presentation will revise how molecules that are part of organelles in plants and animal tissue determine their harvesting and storability properties as raw materials. Major transformations of key plant and animal structures happen during processing and at different time and dimension scales. Structure also plays a key role in the liberation of tasty and odoriferous molecules during mastication, as well as in the release of nutrients from the food matrix influencing the concentration in the blood (e.g., glucose) and the bioavailability of some nutrients after digestion. Ultimately, some molecules that are absorbed may influence the way genes are expressed in our cells, thereby altering their expression in pathological processes (e.g., aging and carcinogenesis).
Prof. José Miguel Aguilera jmaguile@ing.puc.cl
