ProSauce: The development and testing of a plant-based, protein-dense sauce to optimise taste, cost and nutrition of meals for the elderly

An estimated 1.3 million older people in the UK a
re malnourished and the number of old people is increasing worldwide. Protein requirements increase with age. Providing a higher amount of protein to older adults (1.2g/kg/day or \>30g per meal) can maximise muscle protein synthesis and minimise protein breakdown rates, supporting good health and maintaining functionality, independence, and quality of life. Sustainable solutions towards freshly cooked, protein-dense meals for the elderly population are urgently needed to address the burden of undernourishment and malnutrition among the elderly in our communities.
INNOVATION
Our initial study leading up to this innovation provided a daily meal supplying\>50% of the daily reference intake of protein (0.6 g protein/kg body weight) to community-dwelling under-nourished older adults. However, participants were unable to finish their meals due to the volume of food including additional meat/fish, leading to plate waste. Study participants were often unable to finish their meals and preferred added sauces and gravies as they made meals tastier and easier to eat and which were fortified with whey protein to achieve requisite protein. However, sauce/gravy production was only feasible in small batches before breaking into unappetising lumpy grey sauce. Since then, Stella West-Harling, expert in designing optimised meals for the elderly population has successfully experimented with the development of a sustainable, palatable and protein-dense gravy/ sauce to nutritionally optimise meals for older adults.
AN EVIDENCE BASED INNOVATION
University of Plymouth research team will support ProSauce formulation and recipe development by analysing nutritional composition, particularly protein content and quality including essential amino acids. University of Exeter team will evaluate the taste and sensory properties of prototype sauces and recipes to support optimisation of the formulation and acceptability to a target audience. Also, the digestibility of proteins provided by the ProSauce containing recipes will be compared to non-fortified mixed meals to generate evidence to support a claim that ProSauce is more effective at delivering metabolically available amino acids to healthy older adults. This will support maintenance of body protein and hence reduce risk of sarcopenia and frailty.

ProSauce, our innovative, plant-based protein-dense product range of sweet and savoury sauces/gravies will enhance protein content of meals cooked for the elderly population by 10g per 50ml portion thus reducing food volume required to achieve recommended protein content. ProSauce will be developed from plant-based, protein-dense sources and will therefore be more financially and environmentally sustainable than conventional animal-based protein alternatives.