Resty Tocmo

My research group investigates how food composition, processing and digestion influence the fate and biological activity of nutrients and food-derived bioactives, particularly in relation to gut and immune health. We combine food chemistry, digestion models and cellular approaches to inform the development of healthier and more sustainable foods and ingredients.

The three focus areas of my research program are:

Food digestion, bioaccessibility and intestinal uptake: We investigate how food and ingredient source, composition, and processing influence nutrient and bioactive release, stability and bioaccessibility during gastrointestinal digestion, and use intestinal cell models to assess uptake and in vitro bioavailability.

Dietary bioactives, redox signalling and immune function: We investigate how dietary bioactives and their chemical transformation influence redox-sensitive signalling and immune function. Current focus is the conversion of conjugated fatty acids into electrophilic nitro-fatty acids and how this transformation alters immune cell signalling and function.

Sustainable ingredients and future foods: We translate mechanistic and nutritional insights into healthier and more sustainable foods, focusing on proteins from food-processing side streams, plant- and fermentation-derived ingredients, and their nutritional quality, digestibility, and functionality.