As part of improving the food supply with products that are favorable to human health and environment,
the BenefPulse project will assess the impact of lentil-derived products on the host's microbiota and
health. Lentil consumption is related to changes in the composition and activity of the intestinal microbiota,
and also to a reduction in the risk of obesity and inflammation. Nevertheless, adverse effects involving
allergic reactions have recently been described. We are going to evaluate the effects of two food matrix
transformation processes on the quality of lentil-derived products. These ancestral processes, namely
germination and fermentation, are recognized to improve organoleptic and nutritional qualities, protein
digestibility, reduce undesirable compounds such as allergens and anti-nutritional products, and enrich
transformed matrices with bioactive compounds. Lentil-derived products will be produced from various
combinations of different seed varieties, with various germination and ageing steps, and fermentation
conditions, using lactic acid bacteria well adapted to the plant ecosystem. The metabolic composition of
these lentil-derived products will be analyzed by targeted and global metabolomic analyses, and their
quality assessed using in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models. Their effects will be analyzed by approaches
that include (i) cytokine production in cellular models, (ii) metagenomic sequencing of gut microbiota from
healthy and obese individuals in fermenters and animals in obesity and inflammation models, and (iii)
analysis of the physiology of animals sensitive to lentil allergens, or in the context of obesity or acute or
chronic inflammation. Using biostatistical analyses, we will identify correlations between biochemical
compounds in the metabolomic profiles of lentil-derived products, and various health effects such as
reduced allergenicity, modulation of the immune profile, improved composition and activity of the human
gut microbiota, and improved physiological markers of allergy, obesity and inflammation. This project, at
the interface of the two pillars of the PEPR SAMS call, will provide scientific evidence of the links between
a processed food, the intestinal microbiota and health. The lentil-derived products are part of the
development of new food systems, and the acquired scientific knowledges will be used to support
promotion of consumption of this new food offering that is beneficial to health.