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Overcoming the recalcitrance of biomass to enzymatic deconstruction is a key issue for biorefinery development. The factors involved in the phenomenon of recalcitrance are still under debate. Taking into account the heterogeneity of the biomass by looking at the changes in the physical state that accompany saccharification, could shed new light on the breakdown process.

During pregnancy, the maternal diet modifies the intestinal microbiota. Diet can thus impact the immune system of the foetus in utero by modifying the transfer of immune factors, microbial factors and bacterial metabolites mediated by the umbilical cord, placenta and amniotic fluid. Prebiotics are fibers that act as fermentable substrates for specific bacteria, which either leads to the release of metabolites, or exerts direct effects on immune cells. We hypothesized that prebiotic supplementation during pregnancy could shift the maternal microbiota towards higher production of metabolites and promote a healthy immune system in the foetus.

In order to assess the nutritional quality of a food product, the first step is to obtain values for the nutritional components. Food composition databases managed by individual countries provide such values. Unfortunately, the values for some components of interest may be missing from the database of the country for which the nutritional quality is assessed. A new method has been developed to automatically retrieve similar foods referenced in different databases through a web application called MultiDB Explorer.

Models predicting the effects of climate change on ecosystems require data on how adaptive plant traits are affected. To accelerate knowledge dissemination and facilitate innovation in this field, open science is a strategic tool. With this objective in mind, 187490 data acquired on 20 natural variants of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana were made available to the scientific community and described in a data paper summarizing 4 years of work of the CEMMU project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR).

The breakdown of food during chewing determines its sensory and nutritional properties, and through salivation, it forms a food bolus, which is then swallowed. For cereal-based foods, mechanistic models have shown that interactions with saliva determine the variation in bolus voscosity. These interactions are essential for the palatability of food products enriched with plant proteins.

Water and polysaccharides in cell walls are two components that have a strong impact on the technological or usage properties of agronomic products, especially cereals. Different imaging methods are able to characterize these two components: mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can map the chemical composition of the samples, without any preconceived notions of the molecules to be analyzed, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a non-destructive method, reveals the anatomy of the organs and the state of hydration (content / mobility). To get a complete picture of the sample, researchers must be able to compare and merge the information obtained from these two methods. The difficulties concern the difference in image resolution, and the deformations caused by MSI during sample preparation.

The challenge of replacing animal proteins with plant-based proteins in Western diets involves successfully transitioning towards healthier and more sustainable food. For many consumers, this transition will only be acceptable if they have a choice of food products that are appealing, convenient and affordable. One possible solution is to offer innovative mixed products, combining dairy, egg and/or vegetable proteins. To make this happen, the animal and plant sectors need information to drive their development and innovation activities forward.

Biomass recalcitrance is a key issue for the development of low-cost and sustainable biorefineries. Indeed, the recalcitrance conferred by the complex structure and composition of lignocellulose limits conversion by biochemical means of many lignocellulosic resources such the by-products of maize cultivation ( stalks, leaves). One of the most widely used strategies to overcome biomass recalcitrance is the apllication of pretreatment technologies. Optimising pretreatment technologies requires an understanding of how the structure of these parietal polymers and their organisation influence the recalcitrance and nature of the changes induced by pretreatments.

Pectins impacts plant biomass recalcitrance by affecting the ability of other cell wall components to access enzyme degradation. Their removal thus has a positive effect on the saccharification of pectin-rich biomass. Furthermore, the development of environmentally-friendly processes involves reducing water consumption and using high-solids loadings. The aim of this research is thus to study the behaviour of different pectin-degrading enzymes in the presence of a low (5%) to high (35%) solid citrus-peel loading. Two enzymes conditions were studied, with a pectin lyase being compared with a mixture of endopolygalacturonase and pectin methylesterase.

Inspired by the natural polymer of the plant cuticle, we produced hydrophobic elastomers from synthons extracted from agro-industrial waste. A biorefinery process and a tailor-made synthesis of these co-polyesters allows us to vary their mechanical properties as well as their barrier properties.