Danone aims to make its products more appealing tohealth-conscious

- The French food giant Danone wants to make its products more appealing to health-conscious consumers by going deeper into the hidden world of plants.

The world's biggest yogurt maker is broadening a deal with San Francisco-based Bright Seed, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to uncover molecules in plants which have direct links to human health.

The partnership, which is expanding from just North America to include the Danone's global supply chain, is the latest example of 'food as medicine', a growing movement that intends to blur the lines of pharmacology, nutrition and sustainability. It comes as pandemic-weary consumers become more water-aware and plant-based foods enjoy an explosion in popularity.

'It is unprecedented what is happening in the world, Taisa Hansen said in an interview at Danone's senior vice president of research and innovation on nutrition.

The new three-year partnership with Brightseed will enable Hansen to better understand plants from crop stage to the dinner table, Danone said.

Previously, the companies were focused exclusively on soy, according to Brightseed, identifying seven potential health benefits through newly examined molecules. Beneficial molecules could eventually be integrated into food and beverage products.

While clinical tests are needed to confirm the findings, Brightseed has said the discoveries have potential to change how soy is grown in certain areas, how it is processed as well as how oilseed is valued for health beyond what is already known regarding heart benefits. That could have big implications for both the medical world and producers of one of the biggest agricultural commodities.

Brightseed, which has raised about $52 million so far, is attempting to build what it says would be the world's largest plant compound library by mapping 99% of unknown bioactives, also referred to as phytonutrients or phytochemicals. The startup refers to these as the 'dark matter of the plant kingdom'.

Brightseed announced in January that its AI Forager technology had discovered phytonutrients in about 80 recognized plant sources that outperformed common drugs to combat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.