There are new evidence based guidelines concerning the recommended intakes of free sugars (<5% energy) and total carbohydrate (~50% energy) in the UK diet, however, there remains no direct advice regarding dietary starch, despite this potentially contributing upto 45% of daily energy requirements. Starchy-foods (pasta, rice potatoes for example) are unique within the diet in that they are always processed in some way before consumption. However, both manufacturers and consumers know very little about the impact of this processing on our health, for what represents a very large part of the UK diet. The digestion of starch generally results in the release of glucose which is absorbed by the body leading to an increase in blood glucose, but we know now that some starches are not broken during digestion. These starches are termed "resistant starch"; they have no effect on blood glucose when consumed and as an added benefit, they are classified as dietary fibre, which is low in the UK diet. Increasing resistant starch in the diet has been highlighted as being particularly beneficial in terms of the prevention of metabolic disease due to this combined effect on blood glucose and by increasing dietary fibre. A new form of resistant starch has recently been identified in food which is created by the interaction between starch and fat molecules when the food is cooled and reheated. This new form of starch has been designated as 'type 5 resistant starch' (RS5). The presence of a small amount of fat (~5% recommended daily intake) within the food matrix is now known to be critical for the formation of this resistant starch and highlights the importance of looking at whole "food" rather than simply the individual "nutrients". While published data on RS5 has so far been restricted to laboratory and animal models, our own human pilot data has revealed that the beneficial effects can be acquired through simple home processing (chilling and reheating) of starchy food (pasta/potatoes), which can reduce the glycaemic impact by at least 25% in a single serving. The potential translation for this research is far reaching, with starch contributing up to 45% of daily energy intake, simple changes to processing could have large-scale effects on public health. The overall aims of this project are to investigate the effects of processing on the formation and glycaemic impact of RS5 using the potato as a model of a starchy food. The potato represents an ideal food to study, as it remains in its native state from field to fork, thus minimising factors that could potentially confound the interpretation and translation of our results. The programme of research will be delivered in three stages: 1. Food processing effects: Measure resistant starch formation under a variety of experimental home food processing conditions in the laboratory, with different varieties of potato. 2. Evaluation of glycaemic response: Testing the postprandial glucose response in humans volunteers to potato samples that demonstrated the highest levels of resistant starch formation in Stage 1. 3. Mechanistic studies: An in-depth analysis of how increasing resistant starch content impacts on the individual components which make up the postprandial glucose response (absorption from the gut, liver production of glucose and glucose clearance from the blood). We will use potatoes grown under special conditions so that the starch is enriched with a natural isotopic label which will allow us to use mathematical models to specifically calculate the movement of glucose (released from the starch) around the body. We anticipate that our calculations will show that potatoes containing more resistant starch will release less glucose into the blood and therefore have beneficial effects on other metabolic parameters that we will measure.

Plant diseases cause significant crop losses in both the field and in storage, particularly within the processing sector. While some diseases can be controlled by chemical pesticides, these can be very damaging to the environment, causing massive losses in biodiversity and significant contributions to carbon emissions. Many pesticides are being withdrawn from the market on environmental grounds, and few products exist to take their place. For a growing number of crop diseases, few if any effective pesticides are available. There is therefore an urgent need to develop sustainable methods to control crop pathogens. A promising source of treatments for crop pathogens are a group of naturally-occurring bacteria called Pseudomonas that live in the soil surrounding plant roots. These plant-associated, friendly bacteria can suppress pathogens and fight plant infections by producing an array of bioactive molecules, a process called biocontrol. Soil Pseudomonas bacteria and the secreted molecules they produce have great potential for use in sustainable control of crop diseases. To this end, we recently conducted an extensive study of the biocontrol bacteria associated with potato field soil, and identified several Pseudomonas strains that could effectively suppress the potato disease Common Scab in greenhouse experiments. Our biocontrol bugs are promising candidates for an effective, environmentally friendly treatment for common scab. However, to use them effectively we first need to understand whether our greenhouse biocontrol results will translate into effective disease suppression in a field environment. To ensure that our Pseudomonas biocontrol strains represent an environmentally sustainable option for crop protection, it is also important to examine how the native microbial community associated with potato field soil responds to the addition of a biocontrol bacterial treatment. We anticipate that our strains will disrupt the soil microbiome much less than conventional chemical pesticides, but this remains to be proven. In partnership with the major potato grower Branston and the agricultural biotechnology company B-hive, we will carry out field trials with our most promising biocontrol Pseudomonas strains to assess their ability to prevent the yield and crop quality losses associated with Common Scab. In parallel, we will sample the soil surrounding our growing potato plants, and use a sequencing based method to determine how biocontrol strain treatments affect the microbiology of the field soil. Finally, we will extend our study of Pseudomonas biocontrol from the field to crop storage. We will treat harvested potato crops with our biocontrol Pseudomonas strains, and assess their ability to prevent yield losses in stored potatoes over an extended period. The results of this study will support our ongoing efforts to develop effective, environmentally friendly alternatives to crop pesticide treatments, and will advance our understanding of how the soil microbial community responds to plant growth and the introduction of new microbial species.

The unavoidable agri-food system needs to provide affordable and healthy food for all. However, it is now widely accepted that food production comes with an unacceptable environmental and social costs. It accounts for 24% of all UK GHG emissions, led to significant biodiversity losses and driven challenging social issues not least from seasonal worker influxes to rural communities. In addition, farmers are under relentless cost pressure from dominant supply chain actors, eroding supply chain equity and local economies. These challenges are acute, not least across Greater Lincolnshire and north Cambridgeshire (LINCAM region), the UK's major production centre for crop-based agriculture and associated supply chain. Whilst there is no simple panacea for these challenges, agricultural technologies (AgTech) that concurrently drive economic and environmental / social productivity have a critical role. The LINCAM supply chain's significance and sheer scale has established a nationally renowned AgTech cluster, not least from the Universities of Lincoln and Cambridge. Both HEI's have specialised in interdisciplinary agri-food innovation, focussing on digital technologies including robotics and AI to drive productivity. Their work exploited a close working relationship with wider civic society and has been co-created across industry. For this established cluster, the LINCAM proposition enables the next step change. We will use AgTech to help address some of the most daunting challenges facing the LINCAM region and global agricultural productivity. We will deliver a step change by; 1. Broadening participation by provisioning LINCAM cluster access to all UK HEI's who wish to onward develop impacts from their AgTech innovations. Activities will include extensive cocreation with leading business and society partners plus direct training and funding for impact delivery. To embed impact delivery behaviours, all awards will be milestoned (go/no go) and accompanied by active pre, through and post award mentoring. 2. Extensive KE with leading businesses and civic society (GLLEP, CPCA, Lincolnshire County Council and West Lindsey District Council) to understand and mitigate barriers to adoption. Activities will include direct support with civic actors to develop local industrial strategies, lock down foreign direct investment, local planning, infrastructure and community development. The LINCAM project enables the cluster to consolidate and deliver nascent development objectives. This includes realisation of a nationally significant Agricultural Growth Zone north of Lincoln; our ambition is to transform the University's Riseholme Campus to a global innovation centre for AgTech. 3. Securing a legacy by embedding cocreation and human skills for AgTech innovation across the region and UK HEI's. We target the LINCAM region to become an AgTech gateway for the world, enabling the development of technologies in a place with industrial scale, export opportunities for AgTech companies and inward investment opportunities within both the AgTech and primary production sectors. Our key regional partners are civic society and an industry sector that supports 88,000 jobs, generates a GVA of £3.8bn and farms >50% of the UK's grade 1 land. However, despite this scale, the opportunity for Place based impact is significant. Social deprivation and attainment across the region are pressing concerns, many citizens are underserved. LINCAM offers an opportunity to secure sustainable growth, bringing high value and skilled jobs to the region, whilst mitigating the serious environmental impacts of the food production system.

Planet Earth is under severe stress due to imbalances in production, consumption, abuse and misuse of natural and man-made resources and, poor climate control. Our resources will be further stretched as global population increases from 7 billion today to over 9 billion by 2050. Industrialised nations are resource intensive societies heavily reliant of crude oil (petroleum) and gas for their energy, chemical and material needs based on traditional manufacturing processes. However, crude oil is a finite resource and its continued use represents a major environmental burden. Thus, development of new manufacturing processes and technologies based on alternative feedstocks, i.e., biobased and ideally produced as a waste or currently under-utilised, within the confines of a sustainable circular economy is of paramount importance nationally and globally. Food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, employing approximately 400,000 people with a turnover of £76 billion. Food manufacturing is a complex process that is in the main linear- rather than circular-thinking. A staggering 9.9 million tonnes of food waste and food by-products are generated per year in the food industry alone, of which 56% is considered unavoidable. Unavoidable food supply chain wastes (UFSCW) lost after harvest and along the distribution and consumption chain have a dual negative environmental impact: undue pressure on natural resources and ecosystem services and pollution through food discards. However, current strategies for dealing with UFSCW are rudimentary and of low value: these include waste to energy (including incineration and anaerobic digestion), where possible; animal feed and bedding; compositing; ploughing back in to soil; and, least preferable, landfill. UFSCW is unique as a bioresource: this readily available biomass contains a treasure trove of unexploited, bio-based materials and chemicals, with a range of potential commercial applications. Our aim is to develop a whole 'systems' understanding of upgrading and re-utilisation of unavoidable food supply chain wastes, [namely: brewers' spent grain; pea vine waste; out of specification citrus fruits; and out of specification potatoes], as a source of functional food ingredients. These four feedstocks are representative examples such that our methodologies and findings will be applicable to a wider range of feedstocks. Furthermore, key performance indicators such as amount of waste, pattern of generation, possible contamination with other food waste, seasonality, etc. will be used to develop an appropriate whole system thinking around food waste collection, reprocessing, and production of new food products. The ultimate objective of our proposed research is to achieve a whole systems thinking "closed-loop" manufacturing of food products, with all input materials fully utilised. The ramifications and any unintended consequences associated with the proposed alternatives will be assessed, at an industry level, working with previously identified partners, and within a broader scope, determining the consequences of these changes in the entire UK food manufacturing sector, linking into the work of the highly networked EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Food.