| Europeans dream of dying at the age of over 90 in perfect health. Food and nutritional habits are playing a key role in public health and quality of life. Functional foods may contribute to healthier nutrition and may prevent diet-mediated disease. The use of plant extracts containing a mixture of secondary plant metabolites offers an effective tool to enrich food, although the knowledge on identity.. stability and efficacy of such extracts is incomplete. BBC news show broadcasted its French Paradox story in 1991. The authors had travelled to Lyon, France, to interview doctors and hear their explanations of why the French affinity for fatty cheeses, foie gras and indulgently heavy sauces still results in one of the lowest rates of heart disease, much lower than that of Americans or Europeans of regions outside typical wine growing areas. Based on these findings we selected the Acronym PARADOX for our proposal. PARADOX is based on results of large epidemiological studies (known to a wider public as the French PARADOX) and recent in vitro tests,. which have proved the efficacy of the complex mixture of compounds in red wine to prevent cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and have shown potent inhibitory action on prostate and breast cancer cell lines. Extraction, standardisation and formulation of protection agents from red wine are the development targets of the PARADOX project. Commercial application of the product in basic foods is the economical goal. Dissemination will be done to the European Food Industry. Task of PARADOX is to obtain a stable extract from red wine skins and seeds, to identify and quantify the leading compounds analytically, to formulate the extract in stable, palatable preparations and to add it into basic food preparations like bread and milk. Further to test the efficacy of such formulated extract in vitro on cell lines and in vivo with consumers. The influence Europe's onto the world is limited to the knowledge at which temperature red wine may be best enjoyed... (Luigi Parzini, in an interview 2003). The project will try to extend that influence to preserving health utilizing Europe's ancient natural resources in today's world |