Virtual tongue for
screening

About

The EU-funded VIRTUOUS project is dedicated to the development of a virtual tongue made by an integrated computational framework that can screen food for natural components by binding taste receptors.
This international consortium includes eight academic and industry participants from four European countries.
Using a variety of computational and experimental data, partners plan to create an algorithm for the prediction of the organoleptic profile of the food based on its chemical composition.
Potential application of this platform as taste predictor is in the food industry, modern precision agriculture, and as a link to neuroscience for taste determination.

Objective

VIRTUOUS is a virtual tongue made by an integrated computational framework able to screen food for natural ligands targeting taste receptors. The proposed intelligent algorithm, by integrating drug discovery techniques, machine learning classifiers, algorithms for big data, cloud computing, and experimental data will predict the organoleptic profile of a specific food based on its chemical composition. The outcomes of this research will shed light on the mechanisms driving the information transfer from the chemistry level,
where food molecular constituents bind taste receptors, toward a cascade of molecular, supramolecular and cellular events emerging as an elaborated sensation which strongly contribute to the food organoleptic profile.
The joint exchange programme involves 8 participants from 4 countries: Italy, Greece, Spain, Switzerland. Participants are both from academic (4 beneficiaries) and non-academic (4 beneficiaries) sectors.
The balance between academy and industry and the interdisciplinary nature of the Consortium will grant a unique stimulating environment for researchers involved in the projects.
Relevance of the program is identified at European and worldwide level, both for academia and industry. The idea of conceiving a taste predictor to be applied on European food products will boost and widen European food market at global level. The VIRTUOUS tongue may be also thought has an “food computer aided design tool” for EU food technology.
For example, based on taste prediction the VIRTUOUS platform may be used in the future to predict the results of a specific grape graft. The Virtuous tongue may be also combined with other technologies to enhance precision agriculture. The VIRTUOUS research also links taste receptors’ activation to the activity of nuclear receptors following the paradigm of the Mediterranean Diet: “good and healthy”. Finally, the project is related to neuroscience, by considering molecular mechanisms of brain elaboration in taste.

PROJECTS

Starting date
1st December, 2019
Project duration
48 months
Coordinator
Marco Agostino Deriu
Project officer
Katarzyna Lyson
Grant Agreement
872181
Funding Institution
EU
Funding scheme
MSCA-RISE – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE)
Requested EU contribution
€1.108.600
Cost
€1.108.600

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Members of the Management Board
POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Marco Agostino Deriu
MISSINGTECH SAGL
Emanuele Mottola
ENGINLIFE-ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
Giacomo Di Benedetto
EFIIS SISTEMIKI VIOLOGIA MONOPROSOPI IKE
Aigli Korfiati
UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA
Vanessa Martos
A.P.A. SAN SEBASTIAN SCA
Josep Palau
ATHINA-EREVNITIKO KENTRO KAINOTOMIAS STIS TECHNOLOGIES TIS PLIROFORIAS, TON EPIKOINONION KAI TIS GNOSIS
Athanasios Kalogeras
SCUOLA UNIVERSITARIA PROFESSIONALE DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA
Dario Piga

Partners