Health-Promoting Components in Fermented Foods: An Up-to-Date Systematic Review

Abstract

Fermented foods have long been produced according to knowledge passed down from generation to generation and with no understanding of the potential role of the microorganism(s) involved in the process. However, the scientific and technological revolution in Western countries made fermentation turn from a household to a controlled process suitable for industrial scale production systems intended for the mass marketplace. The aim of this paper is to provide an up-to-date review of the latest studies which investigated the health-promoting components forming upon fermentation of the main food matrices, in order to contribute to understanding their important role in healthy diets and relevance in national dietary recommendations worldwide. Formation of antioxidant, bioactive, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, and FODMAP-reducing components in fermented foods are mainly presented and discussed. Fermentation was found to increase antioxidant activity of milks, cereals, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish. Anti-hypertensive peptides are detected in fermented milk and cereals. Changes in vitamin content are mainly observed in fermented milk and fruits. Fermented milk and fruit juice were found to have probiotic activity. Other effects such as anti-diabetic properties, FODMAP reduction, and changes in fatty acid profile are peculiar of specific food categories.

An Animal Study to Compare Hepatoprotective Effects Between Fermented Rice Bran and Fermented Rice Germ and Soybean in a Sprague-Dawley Rat Model of Alcohol-Induced Hepatic Injury

“…According to several previously published studies, fermented foods have beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract system. Moreover, recent studies have shown that supplementation of fermented foods had beneficial effects in improving symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose metabolism, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and osteoporosis [2,3,7,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57].…”

“…Foods or beverages are fermented through regulation of microbial growth or actions of enzymes [1,2]. Thus, fermented foods are produced depending on factors such as nature of microorganisms, ingredients and environmental conditions [3][4][5].…”

Preservation, Characterization and Exploitation of Microbial Biodiversity: The Perspective of the Italian Network of Culture Collections

“…Accordingly, microbial resources play a vital role in biotechnology innovation ( Figure 1) and their exploitation in food [68][69][70], industry [71], medicine [72][73][74][75], and the environment [76][77][78] is widely reported in literature. Many papers dealing with the positive effects of fermented food and related microorganisms and compounds have been published, and a comprehensive overview of health-promoting activities and compounds, per raw food matrix and related fermenting microorganisms is reported in the review published by Melini and co-workers [83].…”

“…Indeed, it could not only allow the traditional taste of fermented foods to be recovered, but also new, natural fermented food and beverages to be obtained, able to provide health and nutrition benefits and preventing the loss of many species and strains useful for human health [82,83].…”

“…The worldwide food industry widely exploits microorganisms for the production of fermented food and beverages from different types of raw material, such as milk (e.g., yogurt, kefir, cheese), vegetables (e.g., pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, kombucha), fruit (e.g., wine, table olives), cereals (e.g., sourdough bread, beer, miso), meat (e.g., salami, sausages), and fish (e.g., fish paste) [83].…”