Scientists create the first international consensus definition of food fermentation

January 6 2021

People have been eating a variety of fermented foods – from kimchi to yogurt – for thousands of years.

But only recently, with the availability of new scientific methods for the analysis of their nutritional properties and their microbiological composition, scientists have begun to understand just how the flavors and unique textures are created and how these foods are beneficial to human health.

Now, 13 interdisciplinary scientists from the fields of microbiology, food science and technology, family medicine, ecology, immunology, and microbial genetics have come together to first explain a consensus between -national creation of ferment foods.

Their paper, published in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, defines fermented foods as: “foods made through desired microbial growth and enzymatic changes of food components”.

The authors take care to be aware of the difference between probiotics and the living microbes associated with ferment food.

The word ‘probiotic’, they say, applies only in certain cases where the fermented food keeps microorganisms alive at the time of consumption, and only when the micro-organisms organisms have been described and shown to provide a health benefit, as shown in a scientific study.

“Many people believe that fermentation food is good for health – and that may be true, but the scientific studies needed to prove it are limited and have focused specifically on some types of fermented food, said first author Maria Marco, Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis.

Co-author Bob Hutkins, Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln – who has written a well-known academic textbook on copy food – says, “We have created this definition to thousands covering a variety of types of fermented foods from around the world, as a starting point for further studies on how these foods and the microbes associated with them affect human health. “

The consensus panel discussion was organized in 2019 by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit organization responsible for the published scientific consensus definitions of both probiotics (in in 2014) and prebiotics (in 2017).

So far, different people have had different opinions about what a ferment food is. The new definition provides a clear concept that is understood by the public, business members and regulators. “

Mary Ellen Sanders, Executive Science Officer, International Scientific Society for Probiotics and Prebiotics

Currently, evidence for positive health effects of fermentation foods has relied more on epidemiological and population-based studies and less on randomized controlled trials.

The authors expect that, in the coming years, scientists will conduct more hypothetical-led research on how different foods are fermented from around the world – derived from dairy products. , fruits, vegetables, grains and even meat – affect human psychology and promote human health.