Researcher / Enterprise
Profile Form
Date / 2007 / 12 / 03 / Valid until: / 2008 / 12 / 31CONTACT DETAILS
Organisation / Agriculture Research Organization, VolcaniCenter / Department / Plant Genetics and Vegetable Research
Contact person / Avraham Lalazar / Male/female / M
Address / 20 Macabiim Blvd / Email /
Postcode / 50250 / Fax / +972 3 9669583
City / Bet-Dagan / Telephone / +972 3 9683877
Country / Israel / Website /
ORGANISATION TYPE
Research organisation type / XResearch Organisation
Company
Other / Is your company a Small and Medium Sized Enterprise ( SME* )?
Number of employees: / YES XNO
* Your enterprise is an SME if:
-it has less than 250 employees
-it has either an annual turnover not exceeding €50M, or an annual balance sheet total not over €43M
-it is less than 25% owned by a non SME (unless these are financial investors, such as banks or venture capitalists
General description of research activity: Studying the health compounds in garlic. We apply System Biology Approaches combining analytical and food processing methodswith medical practices with genomics and proteomics technologies in our aim to define the health benefits ofgarlic's active compounds; including the: sulphur-organic, flavanoids, fructans, saponins, vitamins and Selenium.We hypothesize these compounds act synergistically in health promotion. We regard garlic as a whole food, rather than a source for a mere single health component.We assume garlic should be part of the regular diet. Towards this goal, we have developed health foodsof several flavours to meet different taste preferences and ethnic desires.First, we planto examine the effects of whole garlic preparations.Thenwe plan to "fractionate" garlic into its components and combine them in the food in order to study their synergistic health effects.We are planning to examine four health parameters: hemodynamics, immune system, digestion and cancer suppression. The first three parameters will be examined on human subjects while the latter, the chemo-preventive effect, will be studied on mice exposed to aflatoxin B1 (as carcinogen). At the molecular level we will use DNA chips, RT-PCR and Proteomics methods to follow the changes in gene expression patterns both in blood cell (human and mouse) and liver cells (mouse).
Former participation in an FP European project?
Project title / Acronym:
Activities performed: / YES X NO
FP7 PROJECT
Title: Bioactive compounds in traditional food products (SICA Black Sea Region) / Acronym:Health GarlicProject type / Large Collaborative Project / Network of Excellence / XSmall Collaborative Project / Other:
Status / planned for submission / running EU project
Call references / FP7-KBBE-2008-2B
Priorities’ Main Research Areas / Health Promotion by Natural Food
Workprogramme Topic / Identifying the Garlic'sBioactive Compounds and their Health Impact
EXPERTISE/COMMITMENT OFFERED
Keywords specifying the expertise: / Biochemistry, Medicine, Molecular Biology, Food Science, Food Processing
Description of the expertise: / Analysing and fractionatingnatural compounds. Medical functional assessment of: blood flow, arthrosclerosis, immune system, digestive track and liver. Extracting and manipulating nucleic acids from cells. Designing and analysing foods with specific nutritional values. Processing garlic into foods using only natural ingredients.
Commitment offered / XResearch Demonstration Training
Technology Dissemination Other:
Term commitment / Short (< 1 year) X Medium (1 to 3 years) Long (more than 3 years)