The Workshop on Carotenoids in Foods, Nutrition and Health will take place in Valencia, on 23-24 of October, 2018 and the EUROCAROTEN 5th Management  Committee and 4th Working Groups Meeting will take place on 24-25 of October, 2018.

The goal of EUROCAROTEN is to enhance the competitiveness of the European agro-food industry and promote health by coordinating research on carotenoids. These are of great importance in this context as they are versatile and can be used as natural colorants, antioxidants, sources of vitamin A and functional ingredients. Of the over 750 carotenoids described ca. 10 are being thoroughly studied, so there is much potential to produce positive impacts at different levels. The research question EUROCAROTEN will address is: what novel sources of carotenoids, little studied carotenoids and/or beneficial actions can be harnessed to increase the competitiveness of the European agro-food industry and promote health? However, research on carotenoids is challenging as they are very difficult to work with. This and the lack of dialogue between largely scattered groups result in a waste of resources that hinders progress. Unlike in other regions, there is not a European network on carotenoids. This scenario is not appropriate to optimize efforts and create synergies and undoubtedly places Europe in a disadvantageous position.  EUROCAROTEN will gather and articulate a critical mass of European actors to promote the co-operative use of infrastructures, synergistic interactions and the sharing, generation, application and communication of knowledge. This will contribute to strengthening Europe’s research and innovation capacities. As a result it will generate breakthroughs leading to applications like new technologies and/or high-quality foods and the establishment of health-promoting nutritional recommendations. Thus, the Action will contribute to create wealth, improve health and reduce costs related to serious diseases.

Workshop on `Carotenoids in Foods, Nutrition and Health´ organized by EU COST action EUROCAROTEN

The aim of this workshop is to critically and scientifically discuss controversies and advances in the area of carotenoids in food science and nutrition, focussing on aspects related to their occurrence in food items and health related aspect.

Though in general the dietary consumption of carotenoids and their blood plasma concentrations have been associated with a number of health benefits, such as reduced incidence of several chronic diseases, many questions remain to be answered. These include many aspects from the influence of food processing on the content and bioavailability of carotenoids, host factors such as enzyme activities influencing absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of carotenoids in humans, and the major mechanism via which they may be related to disease reduction. For example, very little information is present about the bioactivity of carotenoid metabolism, and to which extent transcription factors and nuclear receptors are involved in conveying health related effects. The aim of the workshop is thus to discuss pressing questions in carotenoid research, and to suggest strategies to close existing research gaps in the near future.

SECRETARÍA TÉCNICA
María José García (maria.jose.garcia-fortea@fundacions.uv.es)
Laura Cabrelles (laura.cabrelles@adeituv.es)
96 205 79 25/717