Scientists at the University of Warwick and consumer goods manufacturer Unilever are joining forces to identify whether the nutrients in everyday fruit and vegetables could help to improve people’s cardiovascular health and protect them from Type-2 diabetes.

The research collaboration has been set up to better understand if the nutrients and bioactives in fruits like grapes, strawberries and olives – in the right combination – could have a greater impact on people’s heart and vascular health.

The study’s hypothesis is that the nutrients found in fruit help to trigger cell defence mechanisms in the tissue walls of blood vessels which not only protect them from the damage caused by the ageing process, but also help to prevent the onset of Type-2 diabetes. If proven, it would be the first time a direct association has been made between eating fruit and improving heart health.

During the three-year programme, innovative screening technology developed by the University of Warwick will be used to identify which fruit and vegetables have the right nutrients to have a positive impact on people’s vascular health. These findings will then be used to develop prototype products to be tested on human blood vessels using in vitro trials.

If successful, clinical trials of the prototype products would then be carried out on middle-aged, overweight volunteers using state-of-the-art metabolism research equipment at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwick Trusts (UHCW). The volunteers will have their blood vessel function and glucose levels monitored to demonstrate which foods directly activate and optimise protective qualities and functions within our bodies.

The £1.1m research study, which has been co-funded by the UK Technology Strategy Board, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Unilever, might one day result in a new range of healthy products which contain ingredients designed to help improve people’s cardiovascular health.

Professor Paul Thornalley from Warwick Medical School explained: “Linking the expertise from industry and our scientific research, added to the ability to trial foods in a clinical setting at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire Trusts (UHCW), gives us a perfect platform to drive the research forward.

“We believe we can harness the health-giving properties of fruits such as grapes, strawberries and olives to raise the body’s natural defences against developing heart disease and diabetes and therefore help tackle the growing problems of declining health in our ageing and increasingly overweight population.”

Dr Gail Jenkins, based at Unilever’s Research & Development laboratories at Colworth Science Park, near Bedford, added: “This research is firstly about improving our understanding of which fruit and vegetables are good for our heart health, and then testing these findings in clinical trials to see if one day we can develop a product which activates people’s cell defence systems to help improve their vascular function and help protect them from Type-2 diabetes. It’s a hugely exciting challenge which could significantly help us encourage our consumers to take small everyday actions to improve their health.”

Notes to Editors

Research will be based in Warwick Medical School (WMS), with future clinical trials conducted within the Human Metabolism Research Unit facility at UHCW.

The research team includes Professor Paul Thornalley and Dr Naila Rabbani (WMS), Dr Martin Weickert (UHCW), and Dr Gail Jenkins and colleagues (Unilever UK, Colworth).

For further information or to arrange interviews with University of Warwick, contact Luke Harrison, Communications Manager on +44 (0)2476 574255/150483, m: +44 (0)7920 531221 or luke.harrison@warwick.ac.uk.

To arrange interviews with Unilever, contact Paul Matthews, Corporate Media Relations Manager, on 0207 822 6605 or paul.matthews@unilever.com

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with operations in over 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. We have more than 171,000 employees, and generated annual sales of €46.5 billion in 2011. More than half our sales are generated in emerging markets (56% in 2011). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known brands such as Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Persil, Cif, Radox, Sure and Lifebuoy.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with goals to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as to source all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets.

More on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit the Unilever website

About the Technology Strategy Board

The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led government body which works to create economic growth by ensuring that the UK is a global leader in innovation.

Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy.

For more information please visit the Innovate UK website.