We are pleased to highlight the participation of Prof. Begoña Muguerza, Scientific Advisor at IDZ – IngreDiZymes and Director of the Nutrigenomics Research Group at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), as an invited speaker at the 48th ESPEN Congress on Clinical Nutrition & Metabolism, held in Berlin from 5–8 September 2026.

During her presentation, “Meal timing: Impact of nutrient-clock genes”, Prof. Muguerza explored how biological timing influences our metabolic response to nutrients and dietary bioactives.

The presentation highlighted how circadian and seasonal rhythms regulate metabolism through central and peripheral biological clocks. Environmental signals such as light and photoperiod synchronize these systems, while feeding–fasting cycles and nutrients can also influence peripheral clocks and clock-gene expression.

Research from the Nutrigenomics Research Group showed that different photoperiods can induce distinct metabolic adaptations and that the same dietary challenge may produce different effects depending on seasonal context. Importantly, studies with polyphenol-rich bioactives, including grape seed and other fruit extracts, showed that their metabolic effects can also vary according to photoperiod, sex, metabolic status and the specific bioactive.

The presentation also addressed the xenohormesis hypothesis, exploring how the seasonal origin of plant bioactives and the physiological state of the organism may interact and potentially modify their biological effects.

A key takeaway was the bidirectional relationship between nutrition and our biological clock: the time of day can influence how we respond to nutrients, while nutrients themselves can influence biological timing.

The session concluded with a clear framework for the future of precision chrononutrition: WHAT × WHEN × WHO — integrating what we consume, when we consume it and the individual biological context to better understand and optimize metabolic responses.

At INGREDIZYMES, these concepts are especially relevant to our science-driven approach to the development and validation of functional bioactive ingredients. We are proud to have Prof. Muguerza as part of our Scientific Advisory Team, connecting cutting-edge nutrigenomics research with innovation in functional ingredients and metabolic health.