ZERN NWG

Within the ZERN consortium, research focuses on the targeted characterization and isolation of micro- and nanostructures from animal and plant-based foods in order to extract ingredients with nutritional value and potential health benefits. To this end, efficient, practical methods for isolation and purification are being developed that deliver high purity and quality while also being scalable beyond the laboratory scale. In addition to ultracentrifugation, size-exclusion chromatography will be used as an additional separation step. The extracted structures are then subjected to detailed physicochemical analysis—for example, regarding size, composition, and biological activity—to evaluate their potential applications in nutrition and health. Bioactive molecules such as antioxidants, proteins, RNA, and lipids are identified and quantified using multi-omics approaches, including mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and next-generation sequencing.