Conceptual Approach to the Design of Enteral Nutrition Products

Introduction: Nutritional support is a vital component of the basic treatment for various pathological conditions. However, the current development of formulas for enteral nutrition products is carried out in a fragmented and case-specific manner, lacking a unified methodology. This makes each development unique and significantly expensive. An analysis of existing approaches to the design of enteral nutrition (EN) products, considering the specificity of their use, has revealed several issues related to their applicability. In this context, given the current geopolitical situation, the development of a unified approach to creating a range of specialized products, including enteral nutrition (EN), has become a pressing challenge. Results: The article examines the main types of product design: basic food combinatorics, digital profiling, and extended digital profiling that accounts for nutrient transformations during production. Their positive and negative aspects in relation to EN are identified, and a new approach to the design of EN products is proposed. A novel conceptual approach to EN product design is introduced, based on comprehensive rational digital profiling that considers modular principles of technological transformation of ingredients into the final product. Conclusion: The current mechanism for designing EN products does not allow for the unification of their development processes. This creates a risk of insufficient supply of such products to domestic healthcare in the context of the withdrawal of foreign developers from the domestic market. The proposed conceptual approach provides a preliminary solution to this problem, including its applicability to food combinatorics. This development serves as a foundational direction for further scientific research in this area.