A European Union 6th Framework Project / Priority 5: Food Quality and Safety

FLAVO consortium

12 institutions, 1 joint-trade organization and 1 multinational company from 9 countries (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom) constitute the FLAVO consortium for the period 2005-2007.

Coordinated by INRA, Seed Biology Laboratory (France), FLAVO belongs to the Priority 5, Food Quality and Safety, in the 6th Research and Technological Development Framework programme of the European Commission.

18 research teams constitute the core of this Specific Targeted REsearch Project (STREP) funded by the European Commission at a contribution up to €4 million.

Plant Science, Analytical Chemistry, Food Quality, Human Nutrition and Human Health: FLAVO is a multidisciplinary consortium.

Social & Scientific Context of the project

Cardiovascular diseases cause more than 1.9 million deaths a year (42% of the total) in Europe, and they constitute the main cause of mortality in Western countries. Even a modest reduction of the risks would benefit Europe both socially and financially.

There is considerable evidence supporting a role for flavonoids in contributing to the health benefits associated with consumption of diets rich in fruits and vegetables or derived foods/beverages.

In addition to potential specific health effects, flavonoids affect nutritional quality and safety, and are responsible for major sensory characteristics, including colour and taste properties. Proanthocyanidins (PAs, also called condensed tannins) constitute a major fraction of the total flavonoids ingested in the Western diet and are the major flavonoids in many commonly consumed fruits.

Overall Objective of FLAVO

The overall objective of the project is to provide the necessary knowledge and tools to enable development of high quality, consumer-desirable fruits and vegetables and derived foods / beverages containing flavonoids at levels that are optimal for human health.

The project focuses mainly on Proanthocyanidins (PAs) because there is consistent evidence from short-term clinical trials supporting a role for PAs in maintaining cardiovascular function and decreasing cardiovascular disease risk.

This project focuses on selected fruits that are known to contain PAs and which are widely available to the European consumer, namely apples, grapes and strawberries. The model plant Arabidopsis is also used as a model to establish the tools and know-how required for introducing PAs into plants that currently do not contain them.