Two publications demonstrate the importance of colonic microbiota in formation of circulating metabolites in human body.

Review article Aura (2008) deals with microbial metabolism of dietary phenolic compounds, which reach the colon as enclosed in dietary fibre matrix from plant foods such as berries, fruits and wholegrain products. A vast knowledge was already gathered in 1960´s to 1980´s of microbial metabolism of xenobiotic compounds, including dietary phenolics, after which the interest was focused on antioxidant activities of these compounds. However, demonstration of antioxidant activity has been demanding, because the compounds disappear from circulation and a diverse metabolite pool appears to be circulating in the body. Microbial metabolites have been shown from in vitro incubations with animal or human faecal microbiota and the same metabolites were also found in human plasma and urine. Novel tools using metabolomic platforms enable observation of the whole metabolome instead of limited number of expected metabolites.

Food and Health Research Centre ETTK at University of Kuopio starts research focusing on non-invasive diagnostics of the nutritional and metabolic status. The project "Measurement of volatile compounds of breath and the assessment of nutritional status" will be performed in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Science of the University of Kuopio. The goal is to develop easy-to-use solutions for the health care sector and for home use. Tekes has allocated a grant for the new project, which has partially funded by the The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of European Union.

Current facts on the health benefits related to oats, as well as oat composition and usage in Nordic countries, are available on the newly launched website: www.oatsandhealth.org. The site aims to provide a quick review on the most important scientific papers related to the oats. The material on the site is written by the Nordic top cereal scientist and will be updated as new data emerges. The site was set-up by the Nordic GRAINITY network, which is a scientific discussion forum to assist in development of functional whole grain, rye and oat food products. The network is financed by the Nordic Innovation Centre and Nordic cereal industry.

Barley as a raw material and ingredient for modern foods will be discussed in a Finnish-Norwegian mini-seminar on 2nd of June 2008 (11 am to 4 pm) at VTT (Tietotie 2, Espoo). The presentations will illustrate the potential of barley as food raw material, the present food uses of barley worldwide, and the present research activities regarding food barley in Finland and in Norway. Food industry opinions are also presented during the seminar. Registration to Anne-Mari Kuokka, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 28th of May, 2008

A workshop was organised in Vilnius on 15-16 April 2008 by VTT and the Nordic Grainity network to discuss the role and significance of cereal foods in Nordic and Baltic diets. Scientific evidence on health effects, as well as Nordic and Baltic actions and communication strategies for promoting consumption of healthy cereal foods were addressed in 14 presentations, which will be available at the website www.vtt.fi/proj/grainity.