Smart Proteins & Functional Foods

Name of the Directorate: Biomanufacturing

Name of the Thematic Area: Smart Proteins and Functional Foods

Program Overview

Smart Proteins and Functional Foods represent emerging, science-driven approaches to address nutrition security, sustainability, and population health. Smart Proteins, also referred to as alternative proteins, leverage advanced biomanufacturing platforms to complement conventional protein sources through resource-efficient and climate-resilient solutions. Functional Foods go beyond basic nutrition by delivering targeted physiological benefits and reducing disease risk when consumed as part of a regular diet.

With increasing consumer awareness, advances in food biotechnology, and India’s strong base of agriculture-derived resources, these sectors offer significant opportunities for innovation-led growth, sustainable biomanufacturing, and improved health outcomes.

Mandate

Under the BioE3 Policy, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), in collaboration with its public sector arm BIRAC, supports research, innovation, and translation in Smart Proteins and Functional Foods to:

• Enhance national food and nutrition security through diversification of protein and nutrient sources.
• Reduce environmental footprint of food systems while ensuring safety, affordability, and nutritional adequacy.
• Enable evidence-based nutrition solutions addressing difficult-to-manage chronic, metabolic, and rare disorders.

Thrust Areas

A. Smart Proteins

• Plant-Based Smart Proteins
  • Development of protein ingredients derived from millets, legumes, oilseeds, under-utilised crops, and agro-by-products.
• Focus areas include valorisation of side streams, improvement of digestibility, reduction of anti-nutritional factors and allergens, and optimisation of texture and flavour. Target products include plant-based milk, meat analogues, and protein-enriched foods.

• Fermentation-Derived Smart Proteins
  • Production of proteins using fungi, algae, and bacteria through biomass fermentation, precision fermentation, and recombinant platforms
• Key focus areas include animal-free dairy proteins, mycoprotein fortification, upcycling of industrial side streams, and development of single-cell protein formulations.

Cell Culture-Derived Smart Proteins
• • Cultivation of animal cells for meat and seafood analogues without conventional livestock rearing.
• Thrust areas include 3D bioprinting, cost-effective serum-free media, scalable bioreactors, edible scaffolds, and advanced texturisation technologies.

B. Functional Foods

• Functional Foods for Chronic and Difficult-to-Manage Disorders Products targeting conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, MASLD, MASH, metabolic syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome, mediated through immune modulation, gut microbiome regulation, antioxidant and anti-fibrotic effects, and metabolic reprogramming.

• Functional Foods for Cognitive Function and Mental Well-being Development of foods supporting cognitive health and mental well-being, with emphasis on the gut-brain axis, including prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, and fermented foods.

• Functional Foods for Inborn Errors of Metabolism and Organelle Disorders Tailored functional foods to support symptom management and quality of life in patients with inborn errors of metabolism, mitochondrial disorders, and peroxisomal disorders.

Salient Achievements

To catalyse the development of innovation-driven smart proteins and functional food products, the Department jointly with its public sector arm BIRAC announced Calls for Proposals on Smart Proteins and Functional Foods under the BioE3 Policy. These Calls were structured to support discovery and application-oriented research, and scale-up and translation across priority focus areas.

Under the Call on Smart Proteins, focus areas included plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cell culture-derived protein platforms, covering innovations in valorisation of agro-residues, precision and biomass fermentation, development of animal-free dairy and mycoproteins, single-cell protein formulations, and cultivated meat technologies.

Under the focussed Call on Functional Foods, priority areas encompassed chronic and difficult-to-manage disorders, cognitive function and mental well-being, and inborn errors of metabolism. Supported innovations include development of bioactive ingredient-based formulations, microbiome- and gut–brain axis-targeted interventions, and condition-specific functional foods aimed at improving health outcomes and quality of life.

Collectively, these initiatives strive to strengthen end-to-end challenges from ingredient and process development to scale-up and translation, aligned with national bioeconomy, sustainability, and public health objectives

Contacts Concerned