Traditional Fermented Beverages of Mexico: A Biocultural Unseen Foodscape

Abstract

Mexico is one of the main regions of the world where the domestication of numerous edible plant species originated. Its cuisine is considered an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and ferments are important components but have been poorly studied. Traditional fermented foods are still diverse, but some are endangered, requiring actions to promote their preservation. Our study aimed to (1) systematize information on the diversity and cultural history of traditional Mexican fermented beverages (TMFB), (2) document their spatial distribution, and (3) identify the main research trends and topics needed for their conservation and recovery. We reviewed information and constructed a database with biocultural information about TMFB prepared and consumed in Mexico, and we analyzed the information through network approaches and mapped it. We identified 16 TMFB and 143 plant species involved in their production, species of Cactaceae, Asparagaceae, and Poaceae being the most common substrates. Microbiological research has been directed to the potential biotechnological applications of Lactobacillus, Bacillus, and Saccharomyces. We identified a major gap of research on uncommon beverages and poor attention on the cultural and technological aspects. TMFB are dynamic and heterogenous foodscapes that are valuable biocultural reservoirs. Policies should include their promotion for conservation. The main needs of research and policies are discussed.

Unveiling the Bioactive Potential of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Waste in Human Health from a Consumer Perspective

“…Fermentation was one of the first processes humans used to prepare and preserve food for periods in which nutrient availability could be scarce [73]. It is estimated that fermented foods constitute about one-third of the foods consumed daily worldwide [74].…”

Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr.: a multipurpose plant with multiple uses in traditional ethnic culinary and ethnomedicinal preparations

“…Although global food systems are highly homogenised and rely on some of the major staple crops such as rice, wheat and maize, many people in different countries still use plant-based traditional ethnic foods [ 1 , 2 ]. Different ethnic foods may be prepared from a single plant showing the diversity of ethnic food preparations and their biocultural significance [ 3 ]. The ethnic delicacies obtained from the plants may not be very popular globally, but they hold very high local and regional importance in a region or among a community or a society.…”

Constructing Micro-Landscapes: Management and Selection Practices on Microbial Communities in a Traditional Fermented Beverage

“…Fermentation practices are part of the local knowledge and food systems, directed to procure and improve human health and wellbeing, but fermented products have changed the human food supply worldwide (Harris et al, 1989;Kuhnlein and Receveur, 1996;Steinkraus, 1996;Harris, 1998;Quave and Pieroni, 2014;Svanberg, 2015;Sõukand et al, 2015;Flachs and Orkin, 2019;He et al, 2019). Fermentation can contribute to construct sustainable food systems, diversify food production, and procure safety, security and sovereignty in human communities around the world (Johns and Sthapit, 2004;Marshall and Mejia, 2011;Ojeda-Linares et al, 2021). It allows preserving and improving nutritional value of food and conferring desirable properties to the final products such as textures and sensorial properties, which are completely unlike to those of the starting materials (Smid and Hugenholtz, 2010;Smid and Kleerebezem, 2014).…”

“…The influence of human management over composition, structure and dynamics of microbial communities has been insufficiently analyzed, even when humans historically have developed numerous management techniques to direct, diversify and innovate the quality or to prevent the spoilage of fermented products around the world (Tamang and Fleet, 2009;Tamang et al, 2016). Ethnozymological studies have documented a wide range of activities that producers perform to adequate fermented products to their purposes; for instance, boiling the substrates, adding salt, plant, or animal products with antiseptic or flavoring roles are common practices (Quave and Pieroni, 2014;Hong et al, 2015;Sõukand et al, 2015;Pieroni et al, 2017;Álvarez-Ríos et al, 2020;Ojeda-Linares et al, 2021). Documenting the known-how of the management over the microbial communities in fermented products has high importance to understand the implications of human practices on the structure and dynamics of microbial communities during fermentation and to recover old human experience for innovation.…”

“…Nonetheless, a renewed interest in their production has motivated studies and actions to guarantee its permanence (Madej et al, 2014;Svanberg, 2015;Cano and Suárez, 2020;Ojeda-Linares et al, 2020. In México, it has been recorded the loss of some traditional fermented beverages, even though the main substrates are available in the nearby, but the transmission of knowledge has been lost (Ojeda-Linares et al, 2021). The vanishing of fermented products not only favors disappearing fragments of foodscapes, but also the traditional ecological knowledge over fermentation practices, and therefore the efforts that humans have historically engineered to shape microbial communities and the evolutionary processes involved in making unique products.…”