KU Leuven: Kellogg chair in cereal science is inaugurated

The new W K Kellogg Chair in Cereal Science and Nutrition has been inaugurated at KU Leuven by Marc Waer, Rector, and Margaret Bath, Vice-President for Research, Quality and Technology of the Kellogg Company.

The objective of the chair is to support education and research in the field of cereal science and nutrition. “This is the first time in its hundred-year history that Kellogg is financing fundamental university research,” Bath said. “We chose KU Leuven because it conducts the best research into cereals and fibres.”

Jan Delcour and Kristin Verbeke have been appointed joint holders of the chair, which Kellogg will initially support for five years. It is named after William Keith Kellogg, one of the founders of the company.

Cereals contain starch, protein and dietary fibre. Two elements, enzyme-resistant starch and dietary fibre can neither be digested nor absorbed in the human small intestine, but are (partially) fermented by micro organisms in the large intestine. During this process, micro organisms produce acetic acid, propanoic acid and butyric acid. The latter is especially important because it provides energy to the cells of the intestinal lining and thus supports the barrier function of these cells in protecting the body from the contents of the intestines.

The aim of the chair’s research is to examine the relationship between the consumption of dietary fibre components or enzyme-resistant starch, and the production of acetic acid, propanoic acid and butyric acid, by intestinal micro organisms.

Kellogg is particularly interested in the research conducted by KU Leuven on prebiotic dietary fibres extracted from wheat bran. Prebiotics are carbohydrate components in food that are neither digested nor absorbed in the human small intestine and which stimulate beneficial colon microbiota that combat less beneficial micro organisms. One of their positive effects is the production of short-chain fatty acids. Delcour has built up a patent portfolio in this field.