The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) is a global effort to provide data-driven solutions toward transforming food systems for improved human and planetary health.
The PTFI provides foundational scientific and educational resources to map food quality and composition.
Research has taught us that our bodies need a balance of macronutrients like carbohydrates, protein, and fat and sufficient amounts of micronutrients such as vitamin D, magnesium, and iron. Yet there are many other components to food that we do not know much about.
The PTFI enables us to learn more about these other components called specialized metabolites—found in many fruits and vegetables—and allows a host of contributors to record this data in a central place, accessible to everyone for noncommercial research purposes.
It also helps us learn more about what may be picked up, lost, and/or changed along food’s journey from farm to table and ecological, cultural, economic, sensory, and health attributes. Food system stakeholders across the globe can then use this information to deliver healthy and sustainable diets.
The PTFI is composed of a global team, and the secretariat is hosted via a partnership between the American Heart Association and the Alliance of Biodiversity International CIAT. It also has technology and research partners, including Verso Bioscience and R&D Partners listed on their website.
Data gathered through the PTFI has other co-benefits helping us resolve some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity, including diet-related chronic diseases, biodiversity, and climate change. It can also help us learn and deploy regenerative agriculture practices and more equitable pathways to food security.
The database is found online, organized, and presented in an intuitive format, and can be accessed by registering on the PTI Research Hub. It can also be accessed via the American Heart Association’s Precision Medicine Platform to analyze the data.
RFCC was involved in the initial phases of launching PTFI through the aggregation of funding; PTFI continues to be an affiliate of RFCC.
