How Fermentation Affects the Antioxidant Properties of Cereals and Legumes

Abstract

<jats:p>The major role of antioxidant compounds in preserving food shelf life, as well as providing health promoting benefits, combined with the increasing concern towards synthetic antioxidants, has led the scientific community to focus on natural antioxidants present in food matrices or resulting from microbial metabolism during fermentation. This review aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the effect of fermentation on the antioxidant compounds of vegetables, with emphasis on cereals- and legumes- derived foods. Polyphenols are the main natural antioxidants in food. However, they are often bound to cell wall, glycosylated, or in polymeric forms, which affect their bioaccessibility, yet several metabolic activities are involved in their release or conversion in more active forms. In some cases, the antioxidant properties in vitro, were also confirmed during in vivo studies. Similarly, bioactive peptides resulted from bacterial and fungal proteolysis, were also found to have ex vivo protective effect against oxidation. Fermentation also influenced the bioaccessibility of other compounds, such as vitamins and exopolysaccharides, enabling a further improvement of antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo. The ability of fermentation to improve food antioxidant properties strictly relies on the metabolic activities of the starter used, and to further demonstrate its potential, more in vivo studies should be carried out.</jats:p>

Mycochemical Screening and Analysis, Antioxidant Activity, and Biochemical Composition of Fermentation Strain Snef1216 (Penicillium chrysogenum)

“…Mostly, the enrichment of antioxidants takes place during the fermentation because of the linkage between the breakdown of flavonoid compounds and microorganisms [37]. Additionally, fermentation prompts the structural breakdown of large and complex molecules which lead to the release or synthesis of various antioxidant compounds [38,39]. Our study indicates that Snef1216 (P. chrysogenum) is an important source of flavonoid compounds.…”

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

“…Antioxidative compounds are also produced during fermentation [58]. Fermented soybean is incubated with Aspergillus oryzae, Bacillus subtilis and Rhizopus oligosporus, and it has a higher degree of anti-lipid peroxidative effects compared with steam soybeans [56,59,60].…”

Impact of Fermentation on the Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Whole Cereal Grains: A Mini Review

“…According to Benedetti et al [128] and Alam et al [129], in vivo protocols involve the administration of antioxidants to testing animals for a specified period of time, after which the animals are sacrificed, and blood or tissues are analyzed. Subsequently done are assays such as lipid peroxidation (LPO), thioredoxin reductase activities, and glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) in human patients [128,130]. Although such in vivo studies are largely desirable, challenges related to ethical approvals, high costs, and daunting logistics have led to the adoption of in vitro techniques.…”