"Nutribiota" receives 1.7 million euros as a strategic project of research and development in Navarra.

The department of development Economic and Business of the Government of Navarra has awarded the project Nutribiota, in which the research center in Nutrition participates, a subsidy of 1.7 million euros in the framework of strategic projects of research and development carried out in the region. In total, 60 million euros have been allocated to 33 initiatives that promote high-impact projects, aligned with the sectors identified in the Smart specialization Strategy (S3) of Navarra, including automotive and mechatronics, agri-food industry, renewable energy, health, tourism or creative and digital industries.

"On the one hand, at School of Pharmacy and Nutrition we seek to identify the composition of the intestinal microbiota that is most closely linked to a good state of health or to certain health problems," explains Fermín Milagro, director of the research line of nutriomics and biomarkers. "As result, after a long research, in the next few months a 100% Navarre microbiota diagnostic test will be launched on the market, from which we will be able to determine the risk of suffering from certain diseases".

On the other hand, the research center in Nutrition is also working to develop foods that promote a change in the microbiota and lead it to a healthy state. "In this sense, the companies that form the consortium of project have been developing different products that we have analyzed at the University of Navarra, studying different parameters to enhance this healthy effect on the microbiota. The final goal we are currently working on is a new line of plant-based products that enhance the healthy and sustainable aspect of food. In addition, we are looking for the implementation of new technologies, but without forgetting that all this has to be based on food produced in Navarra with a technological transformation that is affordable", concludes Milagro.