Microbial metabolites in fermented food products and their potential benefits

Abstract

Fermented food products are unique, and their consideration and consumption rates have significantly increased as they have various functional properties which include beneficial health activities to the consumers. Fermented food products contain a plethora of microbial metabolites. Microorganisms are the key factors that determine the characteristics of the food and metabolites produced during fermentation. The major microbial metabolites are enzymes, amino acids, bacteriocins, organic acids, pigments, bioactive compounds (polyphenolics, alkaloids, and antibiotics), and vitamins that enhance the sensorial and nutritional quality of fermented foods. Furthermore, the metabolites possess various probiotic, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities, and also help control multiple acute and chronic diseases including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, allergies, diabetes, and gastrointestinal disorders. Therefore, the present review elaborates the microbial metabolites of various fermented food products and their functional properties, as well as their impacts on consumers’ health.

Fermentation in aquafeed processing: Achieving sustainability in feeds for global aquaculture production

“…to produce a wide range microbial metabolites such as enzymes, amino acids, bacteriocins, organic acids, pigments, polyphenols and vitamins. 98 Such metabolites are beneficial for animal's gut health and improve digestive activity as well as nutritive value from susceptive raw materials. 99 Additionally, a variety of enzymes, such as proteinase, amylase, cellulose and catalase, are produced by these microbes that break down large compounds into simple biomolecules.…”

“…This improvement in growth performance is possibly attributable to improvements in amino acids composition and protein content, as well as reductions in ANFs, crude fibre, cellulose and non‐starch polysaccharides as a result of the fermentation process 33 . It is indicted that different types of microorganisms ( Bacillus sp., lactobacillus sp., saccharomyces ) have been used to produce a wide range microbial metabolites such as enzymes, amino acids, bacteriocins, organic acids, pigments, polyphenols and vitamins 98 . Such metabolites are beneficial for animal's gut health and improve digestive activity as well as nutritive value from susceptive raw materials 99 .…”

Fermentation technology enhances the nutritional quality of underutilized Bambara groundnut – a review

“…Bacillus species are known to carry out an alkaline fermentation and produce a wide range of enzymes (e.g., protease, amylase, lipase, cellulase, fibrinolytic enzymes), organic acids (e.g., α-ketogenic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, succinic acids), amino acids (e.g., L-glutamate, L-lysine), vitamins (e.g., vitamin D, E, B complex) and bacteriocins (D'Este, Alvarado-Morales, and Angelidaki 2018; Nagarajan, Rajasekaran, and Venkatachalam 2022;Yan et al 2013).…”

“…In addition, LAB are known to synthesize a variety of metabolites during fermentation, such as enzymes (e.g., protease, amylase, amylopullulanase, aldolase, lactase, lipase), vitamins (e.g., folic acid, riboflavin, pyridoxal, cobalamine, vitamin C, vitamin K), bacteriocins (e.g., nisin, Helveticin-M, Helveticin-J, Sakacin P, Gasserin), exopolysaccharides and gammaaminobutyric acid (Hayek and Ibrahim 2013;Nagarajan, Rajasekaran, and Venkatachalam 2022;Wang et al 2021).…”

“…For example, Rhizopus has been reported to produce vitamins (e.g., niacin, riboflavin, cobalamin, pyridoxine, thiamine, biotin, pantothenic acid, ergosterol, tocopherol, and vitamin K) during tempeh fermentation (Feng 2006;Sharma et al 2020). Organic acids, such as citric acid, fumaric acid, lactic acid and gluconic acid, are also metabolites secreted by Rhizopus and Aspergillus species (Nagarajan, Rajasekaran, and Venkatachalam 2022).…”