Fermented foods: patented approaches and formulations for nutritional supplementation and health promotion

Perspectives on the probiotic potential of lactic acid bacteria from African traditional fermented foods and beverages

Diverse African traditional fermented foods and beverages, produced using different types of fermentation, have been used since antiquity because of their numerous nutritional values. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from these products have emerged as a welcome source of antimicrobials and therapeutics, and are accepted as probiotics. Probiotics are defined as live microbial food supplements which beneficially affect the host by improving the intestinal microbial balance. Currently, popular probiotics are derived from fermented milk products. However, with the growing number of consumers with lactose intolerance that are affected by dietary cholesterol from milk products, there is a growing global interest in probiotics from other food sources. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of recent developments on the applications of probiotic LAB globally, and to specifically highlight the suitability of African fermented foods and beverages as a viable source of novel probiotics.

An ethnobotanical perspective on traditional fermented plant foods and beverages in Eastern Europe

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Fermented food and beverages represent an important part of the worldwide foodscape, medicinal food domain and domestic strategies of health care, yet relevant traditional knowledge in Europe is poorly documented.

METHODS

Review of primary ethnographic literature, archival sources and a few ad-hoc ethnobotanical field studies in seven selected Eastern European countries (Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, and Poland) were conducted.

RESULTS

Current or recently abandoned uses of 116 botanical taxa, belonging to 37 families in fermented food or medicinal food products were recorded. These findings demonstrate a rich bio-cultural diversity of use, and also a clear prevalence of the use of fruits of the tannin- and phenolic-rich Rosaceae species in alcoholic, lactic- and acetic acid fermented preparations. In the considered countries, fermentation still plays (or has played until recent years) a crucial role in folk cuisines and this heritage requires urgent and in-depth evaluation.

DISCUSSION

Future studies should be aimed at further documenting and also bio-evaluating the ingredients and processes involved in the preparation of homemade fermented products, as this can be used to support local, community-based development efforts to foster food security, food sovereignty, and small-scale local food-based economies.

Maintaining gut ecosystems for health: Are transitory food bugs stowaways or part of the crew?

Do food ecosystems feed gut ecosystems? And if so… fuel the immune system? Recent developments in metagenomics have provided researchers tools to open the "black box" of microbiome science. These novel technologies have enabled the establishment of correlations between dysbiotic microbial communities and many diseases. The complex interaction of the commensal microbiota with the immune system is a topic of substantial interest due to its relevance to health. The human gastrointestinal tract is composed of an immense number of resident and transient microorganisms. Both may play a direct and vital role in the maintenance of human health and well-being. An understanding of the interactions and mechanisms through which commensal and food-derived microbes shape host immunity and metabolism may yield new insights into the pathogenesis of many immune-mediated diseases. Consequently, by manipulating the contribution of food microbiota to the functionality of the gut ecosystem, there is great hope for development of new prophylactic and therapeutic interventions. This paper presents some insights and comments on the possible impact of exogenous fermented food microbes on the gut homeostasis. We shed light on the similar features shared by both fermented food microbes and probiotics. In particular, the key role of microbial strains as part of food ecosystems for health and diseases is discussed through the prism of fermented dairy products and gut inflammation.

Fermented foods, microbiota, and mental health: ancient practice meets nutritional psychiatry

The purposeful application of fermentation in food and beverage preparation, as a means to provide palatability, nutritional value, preservative, and medicinal properties, is an ancient practice. Fermented foods and beverages continue to make a significant contribution to the overall patterns of traditional dietary practices. As our knowledge of the human microbiome increases, including its connection to mental health (for example, anxiety and depression), it is becoming increasingly clear that there are untold connections between our resident microbes and many aspects of physiology. Of relevance to this research are new findings concerning the ways in which fermentation alters dietary items pre-consumption, and in turn, the ways in which fermentation-enriched chemicals (for example, lactoferrin, bioactive peptides) and newly formed phytochemicals (for example, unique flavonoids) may act upon our own intestinal microbiota profile. Here, we argue that the consumption of fermented foods may be particularly relevant to the emerging research linking traditional dietary practices and positive mental health. The extent to which traditional dietary items may mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress may be controlled, at least to some degree, by microbiota. It is our contention that properly controlled fermentation may often amplify the specific nutrient and phytochemical content of foods, the ultimate value of which may associated with mental health; furthermore, we also argue that the microbes (for example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species) associated with fermented foods may also influence brain health via direct and indirect pathways.

Chemopreventive properties of dietary rice bran: current status and future prospects

Emerging evidence suggests that dietary rice bran may exert beneficial effects against several types of cancer, such as breast, lung, liver, and colorectal cancer. The chemopreventive potential has been related to the bioactive phytochemicals present in the bran portion of the rice such as ferulic acid, tricin, β-sitosterol, γ-oryzanol, tocotrienols/tocopherols, and phytic acid. Studies have shown that the anticancer effects of the rice bran-derived bioactive components are mediated through their ability to induce apoptosis, inhibit cell proliferation, and alter cell cycle progression in malignant cells. Rice bran bioactive components protect against tissue damage through the scavenging of free radicals and the blocking of chronic inflammatory responses. Rice bran phytochemicals have also been shown to activate anticancer immune responses as well as affecting the colonic tumor microenvironment in favor of enhanced colorectal cancer chemoprevention. This is accomplished through the modulation of gut microflora communities and the regulation of carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes. In addition, the low cost of rice production and the accessibility of rice bran make it an appealing candidate for global dietary chemoprevention. Therefore, the establishment of dietary rice bran as a practical food-derived chemopreventive agent has the potential to have a significant impact on cancer prevention for the global population.