From 1567 to Pomeritto: Exploring Taste, Texture and Nutritional Customisation
Chapter 1
From 1567 to 2017: Why the Potato Became Central to CRIGA's Research
The story of Pomeritto begins not with a product, but with a much longer exploration of the role of traditional foods in nutritional care.
The potato played a distinctive role in this exploration—not only because of its nutritional properties, but also because of its historical significance. According to historical sources, the first potato to reach European soil arrived at the port of Antwerp in 1567 from the Caribbean. From Antwerp, a process began that would see the potato become one of Europe's most important staple foods.
More than four centuries later, in 2017, that same potato once again became the subject of research. That year, CRIGA, together with researchers, healthcare professionals, chefs and other knowledge partners, launched a research project exploring innovative methods for modifying the texture of hot meals for people with swallowing difficulties. Supported by the Province of Antwerp, the project was guided by a gastrological approach in which flavour, nutritional value, safety and eating quality are considered an integrated whole.
From the outset, the potato was not treated simply as a source of starch. The research questions were much broader. Which potato varieties produce the best results? Which cooking methods maximise flavour? How do preparation and processing affect the final texture? And how can these properties be put to use in nutritional care?
During the research, particular attention was paid to the relationship between the raw ingredient, the cooking method and the quality of the finished food. Potatoes cooked whole were found to develop a particularly interesting sensory profile. The focus was not solely on texture, but equally on flavour retention and quality.
In parallel, the researchers examined how processing techniques affect eating quality. The project showed that conventional approaches do not necessarily yield the best results, and that alternative methods open up new possibilities for flavourful, high-quality nutritional care.
Gradually, it became clear that the potato holds far more potential than is generally recognised or put to use. What began as research into flavour, texture and preparation evolved into a broader exploration of the potato as a strategic food ingredient.
The potato proved interesting not only from a culinary perspective, but also from a nutritional one. This prompted a new question that would ultimately guide the next stage of the research:
Could the potato also be used as a tool to adjust the nutritional composition of food in a targeted way?
That question became the starting point for the next phase of CRIGA's knowledge development.
Chapter 2
From Potato Research to Targeted Nutritional Adjustment
In the first part, we described how CRIGA's potato research evolved from an exploration of flavour, texture and preparation into a broader investigation of the potato's nutritional potential. This evolution prompted a new question: how can traditional food ingredients be used to adjust the nutritional composition of spoonable and drinkable meals in a targeted way?
This question reflects a broader development within the Food-Related Life Sciences (FRLS). Within this integrated field of knowledge, foods are viewed not merely as carriers of nutrients, but as tools for deliberately tailoring flavour, texture and nutritional value to the individual diner.
A key principle is that nutrition involves more than simply increasing or decreasing individual nutrients. Within the HP-TNT concept, targeted nutritional adjustment is therefore approached through three fundamental building blocks: energy, protein and fibre. Together, they form a nutritional trinity that guides the development of food solutions for nutritional care.
While energy supports the body's energy requirements and protein is essential for maintaining and repairing body tissues, fibre represents a third, often overlooked pillar. Yet this component also plays an important role in a balanced nutritional strategy.
CRIGA's potato research yielded new insights in precisely this area. As the research progressed, attention increasingly turned to the potato's potential as an ingredient for specifically enhancing the fibre component of food solutions.
Three complementary functional components became central to this work:
Dietary fibre;
Resistant starch (RS3);
Polyphenols.
Together, these three components form a promising functional combination—not because any one of them offers a miracle solution, but because they can complement one another within a broader nutritional approach centred on the ability to make targeted adjustments.
The next question was how to translate these insights into a practical application without losing sight of the fundamental principle of targeted nutritional adjustment. This challenge gave rise to the next stage of the research programme.
Chapter 3
From Targeted Nutritional Adjustment to Pomeritto
In the previous part, we described how CRIGA's potato research evolved into a broader vision of targeted nutritional adjustment within FRLS. Particular attention was given to the fibre pillar within the HP-TNT trinity of energy, protein and fibre.
These insights later gave rise to Pomeritto.
Importantly, Pomeritto should not be seen as the ultimate goal of the original potato research. The research focused on developing knowledge, rather than on creating a single, specific product.
Pomeritto is better understood as one of the practical applications arising from this accumulated knowledge. It brings together three complementary components—dietary fibre, resistant starch (RS3) and polyphenols—and thus offers an additional way to support the fibre pillar within the HP-TNT approach.
Perhaps even more important than the composition itself is the underlying principle of targeted nutritional adjustment.
Pomeritto does not prescribe a fixed intervention or predetermine the nutritional impact to be achieved. End users retain the freedom to decide whether, when and in what quantity to add Pomeritto. Its contribution to the nutritional composition can therefore be tailored to the context, target group and intended application.
This makes Pomeritto fundamentally different from a conventional product-led approach. The focus is not on the product itself, but on the ability to adjust nutrition deliberately.
In this sense, Pomeritto represents not a standalone product story, but a story of knowledge development.
It is a story that begins with the historical arrival of the potato in Antwerp in 1567, enters a new research phase with CRIGA's potato research in 2017, and continues to evolve today within FRLS as a search for food solutions in which flavour, texture and nutrition are not considered separately, but brought together in one integrated approach.
Pomeritto did not emerge from an ambition to develop a potato product. It is one of the applications that arose from a long-term programme of research by CRIGA and its partners into the potato's potential as a strategic food ingredient. Central to this development is the ability to make targeted nutritional adjustments, with particular attention to the fibre pillar of the energy–protein–fibre trinity.
