Cholesterol-lowering and lipid oxidation reduction potentials of traditional seasonings in Salchichon dry-fermented sausages

Significance of Soy-Based Fermented Food and Their Bioactive Compounds Against Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Diseases

Soybean-based fermented foods are commonly consumed worldwide, especially in Asia. These fermented soy-products are prepared using various strains of Bacillus, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Aspergillus. The microbial action during fermentation produces and increases the availability of various molecules of biological significance, such as isoflavones, bioactive peptides, and dietary fiber. These dietary bio active compounds are also found to be effective against the metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). In parallel, soy isoflavones such as genistein, genistin, and daidzin can also contribute to the anti-obesity and anti-diabetic mechanisms, by decreasing insulin resistance and oxidative stress. The said activities are known to lower the risk of CVD, by decreasing the fat accumulation and hyperlipidemia in the body. In addition, along with soy-isoflavones fermented soy foods such as Kinema, Tempeh, Douchi, Cheonggukjang/Chungkukjang, and Natto are also rich in dietary fiber (prebiotic) and known to be anti-dyslipidemia, improve lipolysis, and lowers lipid peroxidation, which further decreases the risk of CVD. Further, the fibrinolytic activity of nattokinase present in Natto soup also paves the foundation for the possible cardioprotective role of fermented soy products. Considering the immense beneficial effects of different fermented soy products, the present review contextualizes their significance with respect to their anti-obesity, anti-diabetic and cardioprotective roles.

An insight into the health benefits of fermented soy products

The current review was aimed to summarize the nutritional values and various health benefits of fermented soy products. Several previous researches proved that soy products rich in protein can reduce the serum concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), and triglycerides if consumed instead of animal protein. Apart from these lipid-lowering effects, fermented soy products also proved to be effective in attenuating the effects of diabetes mellitus, blood pressure, cardiac disorders and cancer-related issues. The nutritional value of the fermented soy products gains much attention due to its increased levels compared to the non-fermented ones. The origin, compositions, nutritional values of different fermented soy products and health-promoting benefits of fermented soy products were systematically reviewed. Hence the in-depth analysis of the various research findings on fermented soy products, beneficial activities may help the future researchers to derive a conclusion on its beneficial effects on health.

Lactobacillus plantarum (KACC 92189) as a Potential Probiotic Starter Culture for Quality Improvement of Fermented Sausages

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fermenting temperature on the applicability of Lactobacillusplantarum for production of fermented sausages as starter cultures, and its applicable efficiency was also compared with those inoculated with commercial starter culture or non-inoculated control. The L. plantarum isolated from a naturally-fermented meat, identified by 16S rDNA sequencing and again identified by denovo Assembly Analysis method was used as a starter culture. Six treatments: 3 with L. plantarum at different fermenting temperatures (20, 25 and 30°C), and other 3 treatments (1 with commercial starter culture, 1 with its mixture with L. plantarum and 1 non-inoculated control) fermented under the same conditions (25°C) were prepared. Results revealed that the fermenting temperature considerably affected the pH change in samples added with L. plantarum; the highest pH drop rate (1.57 unit) was obtained on the samples fermented at 30°C, followed by those at 25°C (1.3 unit) and 20°C (0.99 unit) after 4 days fermentation. Increasing the temperature up to 30°C resulted in significantly lower spoilage bacteria count (5.15 log CFU/g) and lipid oxidation level in the products inoculated with L. plantarum. The sensory analysis also showed that the samples added with L. plantarum at 30°C had significantly higher odor, taste and acceptability scores than those fermented at lower temperatures. Under the same processing condition, although the L. plantarum showed slightly lower acidification than the commercial starter culture, however, it significantly improved the eating quality of the product.