Fermentation of Cauliflower and White Beans with Lactobacillus plantarum – Impact on Levels of Riboflavin, Folate, Vitamin B12, and Amino Acid Composition

Abstract

As diets change in response to ethical, environmental, and health concerns surrounding meat consumption, fermentation has potential to improve the taste and nutritional qualities of plant-based foods. In this study, cauliflower, white beans, and a 50:50 cauliflower-white bean mixture were fermented using different strains of Lactobacillus plantarum. In all treatments containing cauliflower, the pH was reduced to <4 after 18 h, while treatments containing only white beans had an average pH of 4.8 after 18 h. Following fermentation, the riboflavin, folate, and vitamin B 12 content of the cauliflower-white bean mixture was measured, and compared against that of an unfermented control. The riboflavin and folate content of the mixture increased significantly after fermentation. Relative to control samples, riboflavin increased by 76-113%, to 91.6 ± 0.6 μg/100 g fresh weight, and folate increased by 32-60%, to 58.8 ± 2.0 μg/100 g fresh weight. For one bacterial strain, L. plantarum 299, a significant 66% increase in vitamin B 12 was observed, although the final amount (0.048 ± 0.013 μg/100 g fresh weight) was only a small fraction of recommended daily intake. Measurements of amino acid composition in the mixture revealed small increases in alanine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, and valine in the fermented sample compared to the unfermented control.

Lactic Acid Fermentation of Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) in a Vegetal Soybean Drink for Developing New Functional Lactose-Free Beverages

“…bacterial metabolism (Parada et al, 1998;Beheshtipour et al, 2013). Several authors (Gardner et al, 2001;Bergqvist et al, 2005;Yoon et al, 2006;Limón et al, 2015;Nguyen et al, 2019;Ricci et al, 2019a;Thompson et al, 2020) tested the growth of LAB on vegetable matrixes, such as beet, carrot, onion, cabbage, dragon fruit, and pineapple-based juices, and bean extracts. Despite the bacterial initial concentration was always higher than in the present work, the maximum concentration reached by various species of Lactobacillus was similar to that found in our study varying between 9 and 10 log CFU mL −1 after 24 h in carrot juice and pineapple juice (Bergqvist et al, 2005;Nguyen et al, 2019), after 48 h in cabbage juice, elderberry juice, and bean extract (Yoon et al, 2006;Limón et al, 2015;Ricci et al, 2019a), and after 72 h in a vegetable mixture (Gardner et al, 2001).…”

“…LAB can also improve the texture and nutraceutical profile of foods, beverages, and of by-products derived from food processing (Ricci et al, 2019a,c;Sozer et al, 2019). Lactic acid fermentation can be considered a valuable technology to enhance safety, shelf life, sensory and nutritional properties of vegetables and fruits (Di Cagno et al, 2013;Ricci et al, 2019b;Muhialdin et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2020). Several studies on LAB showed their: (i) capacity to resist intact to the transit through the gastric tract, (ii) ability to colonize the host gut, and (iii) safety and potential health benefits such as cholesterol reduction (de Vries et al, 2006;Karczewski et al, 2010).…”

Recent update on lactic acid bacteria producing riboflavin and folates: application for food fortification and treatment of intestinal inflammation

“…Recently, an increase in folate content has been observed by Thompson et al . (2020) in a cauliflower–white beans mixture after fermentation with Lact. plantarum strains.…”

“…It was also demonstrated that passion fruit byproducts and fructooligosaccharides increased the folate production in soymilk by selective bacterial strains (Albuquerque et al 2017). Recently, an increase in folate content has been observed by Thompson et al (2020) in a cauliflower-white beans mixture after fermentation with Lact. plantarum strains.…”

New Insight into Bacterial Interaction with the Matrix of Plant-Based Fermented Foods

“…Similarly, an increase in vitamin B12 content was observed in fermented cauliflower and a bean mixture. The presence of L. plantatrum strain 299 in the food matrix resulted in a 66% increase in the content of this vitamin [ 89 ]. Available literature data also indicate an increase in riboflavin (B2) and vitamin K or C in fermented plant foods.…”