GATE — Life Sciences (XL), Section U Food Technology · India · IITs and IISc on rotation (2026: IIT Guwahati)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersFoods and ingredients with health benefits beyond basic nutrition: bioactive compounds, probiotics and prebiotics, dietary fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, plant sterols and polyphenols, foods for special dietary uses, the evidence needed for health claims and how claims are regulated in different countries.
In the exams: GATE XE-G Section 1 (nutraceuticals); ICAR AICE 35.a Unit 8 (nutraceutical and functional foods) and 37 Unit 6
How our questions for GATE spread across the units of Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals & Health Claims. Difficulty: 10 easy, 29 medium, 2 hard.
| Dietary fibre and the gut microbiome | 7 | |
| Omega-3 fatty acids and structured lipids | 7 | |
| Bioactive compounds: polyphenols, carotenoids, phytosterols and peptides | 6 | |
| Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics and postbiotics | 6 | |
| Delivery and stability of bioactives | 6 | |
| Bioactive peptides and protein hydrolysates | 5 | |
| Definitions: functional foods, nutraceuticals and dietary supplements | 4 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
In the United States, dietary supplements are defined by the
B. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act
DSHEA (1994) defines dietary supplements. The NLEA governs nutrition labelling and health claims, the meat act covers meat inspection, and FSMA covers preventive controls.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
Genistein and daidzein, found in soy, belong to the class of
C. Isoflavones
They are isoflavones, with weak oestrogen-like activity. Anthocyanins are berry pigments, carotenoids are fat-soluble pigments, and glucosinolates come from cruciferous vegetables.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
Under the Codex definition, dietary fibre consists of carbohydrate polymers that are
D. Not digested in the human small intestine
Codex fibre is carbohydrate polymers (10 or more units, with 3–9 at national discretion) not hydrolysed by the endogenous enzymes of the small intestine. Fibre is not digested to glucose, occurs in many foods and includes insoluble forms.
Further reading: Codex Alimentarius, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (dietary fibre definition)
Starch that has gelatinised and then retrograded on cooling, as in cooled cooked potatoes, is classed as
C. RS3
Retrograded starch is RS3. RS1 is physically inaccessible starch, RS2 raw granular starch, and RS4 chemically modified starch.
Further reading: Codex Alimentarius, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (dietary fibre definition)
Psyllium is widely used in gluten-free bread mainly because it
B. Forms a gel that replaces gluten's structure
Psyllium husk forms a strong viscous gel that holds gas and gives structure in gluten-free dough. It is gluten-free and does not add colour or starch.
Further reading: Codex Alimentarius, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (dietary fibre definition)
OPO structured lipids are produced commercially using
B. sn-1,3-specific lipases
sn-1,3-specific lipases exchange fatty acids at the outer positions while keeping palmitic acid at sn-2. Random interesterification would scramble positions; hydrogenation and fractionation do not create OPO.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
The lactotripeptides VPP and IPP, formed in milk fermented by Lactobacillus helveticus, inhibit
A. Angiotensin-converting enzyme
VPP and IPP inhibit ACE in vitro, which is relevant to blood pressure regulation. They do not target lipase, amylase or lactase.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
Bitterness in protein hydrolysates comes mainly from
B. Peptides with exposed hydrophobic residues
Hydrolysis exposes hydrophobic amino acids such as leucine and proline at peptide ends, which taste bitter. Sugars, salts and fat oxidation are not the main cause.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
A bioactive degrades by first-order kinetics with k = 0.02 per day. The fraction remaining after 60 days is about
A. 30%
Retention = exp(−0.02 × 60) = exp(−1.2) = 0.301, about 30%. 70% is the fraction lost; 98.8% subtracts 1.2 percentage points from 100; 50% assumes 60 days is one half-life, but the half-life is ln 2 ÷ 0.02 = 35 days.
Further reading: Brodkorb et al., INFOGEST protocol, Nature Protocols
INFOGEST is
C. A standardised in vitro digestion protocol
INFOGEST is an international consensus protocol simulating oral, gastric and intestinal digestion in vitro. It is not a composition database, a counting method or a regulation.
Further reading: Brodkorb et al., INFOGEST protocol, Nature Protocols
Ten here, 41 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to GATE in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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