{"id":79802,"date":"2023-07-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/fermentation-new-possibilities-for-improving-our-diet\/"},"modified":"2023-09-19T09:26:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T07:26:52","slug":"la-fermentation-de-nouvelles-visions-pour-ameliorer-notre-alimentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/la-fermentation-de-nouvelles-visions-pour-ameliorer-notre-alimentation\/","title":{"rendered":"Fermentation: New Possibilities for Improving our Diet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fermentation is an age-old process for transforming food so as to preserve it for longer. The process involves the action of micro-organisms \u2014 bacteria, yeasts, or moulds \u2014 which transforms sugars into acid. This acidification of the food can prevent the development of pathogenic bacteria, and the chemical reaction also modifies the taste and texture of the food by producing other compounds. Depending on the raw material and the type of fermentation, these new products can include alcohol, vitamins, carbon dioxide, fatty acids, new flavours, etc., all of which contribute to the sensory properties of fermented foods. <\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Fermented products are very much part of our daily diet. They include bread, wine, cheese, and sauerkraut, but also some kinds of sausages, olives, and even tea, coffee, and cocoa. Worldwide, it is estimated that around 5,000 different fermented products are consumed. In particular, many types of fermented vegetables are eaten in Asia. In the history of mankind, fermentation was the earliest method of preserving food.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n

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There is an increasing number of studies devoted to fermentation, for a number of reasons. This biological process requires very little energy and no heavy equipment, it preserves food without the use of additives, and it changes the food\u2019s nutritional composition. Researchers at INRAE (Institut national de recherche pour l\u2019agriculture, l\u2019alimentation et l\u2019environnement) are working on fermentation through various projects. Their aim is twofold: firstly, to study the potential of fermented plant proteins in order to rebalance diets towards the consumption of less animal protein; and secondly, to analyse and confirm the impact of fermentation on health.
\nThere are many potential benefits to increasing our use of fermented foods. Firstly, fermentation can improve the nutritional composition of certain foods. In dairy products, for example, propionic bacteria enable the synthesis of vitamin B12, sauerkraut is richer in vitamin C than unfermented cabbage, and certain micro-organisms produce short-chain fatty acids. Fermentation can also reduce the toxicity of components in the base product, such as allergenic elements or the cyanogenic compounds (cyanide) contained in cassava. Finally, we now know that the richness of our microbiome is an important factor in good health, that this diversity is declining in rich countries, and that this decline could be linked to the increase in chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Eating fermented foods containing live micro-organisms can therefore help to boost the diversity of the intestinal microbiome.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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\n Voir aussi<\/span>\n
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\n \n \"\"<\/a>\n <\/span>\n \n La Nouvelle Microbiologie. Des microbiotes aux CRISPR<\/a>\n \n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n
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9 November 2016<\/div>\n PAPON Pierre<\/a>\n
\n 4 min.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n\n Lu, vu, entendu\n <\/a>\n Science et technique<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Research into the production of new fermented foods, particularly plant proteins, could therefore help to improve the health of Europeans, as well as helping them to reduce their meat consumption. Legumes, which are rich in vegetable proteins, are one of the priorities for fermentation, notably to improve their taste and texture, as well as their nutritional composition.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n

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The Nutrinet Sant\u00e9 study<\/a>, which monitors 160,000 adults in terms of their nutrition, lifestyle, and health, showed that consumption of 160 g\/d (grams per day) of fermented dairy products reduced the risk of cerebrovascular disease compared with consumption of less than 57 g\/d.<\/p>\n

To improve our understanding of the impact of consuming fermented products on our microbiome, a new research project launched in September 2022, the French Gut<\/a>, will analyse 100,000 stool samples in conjunction with questionnaires on nutrition and health.<\/p>\n

Another research project, called Domino<\/a>, which is conducted at the European level, will cross-reference data on micro-organisms in food with data on the intestinal microbiome in an attempt to understand the impact of food micro-organisms on health.<\/p>\n

The latest research project on this subject, Ferments of the Future<\/a> (a public-private partnership involving INRAE and food manufacturers, funded by the French government as part of the \u201cFrance 2030\u201d project), aims to understand how a combination of micro-organisms can transform plants in particular to improve their taste, texture, and nutritional properties. It also aims to understand how fermentation processes influence the capabilities of these micro-organisms, and how they and the compounds produced by fermentation interact with our microbiome. Finally, the project aims to innovate both in terms of the diversity of micro-organisms that can be used, and also in terms of their combination in the fermentation process (INRAE has a bank of 4,000 bacteria that could be used for food fermentation), in order to produce new food products.<\/p>\n

Innovation can therefore be related both to the fermentation process\u2019 production of molecules that are good for our health, and also to its effects on the flavour and texture of the resulting foods. For example, the start-up Les Nouveaux Affineurs<\/a> has received help from INRAE to develop a plant-based product made from soya or cashew nuts that resembles cheese but cuts the carbon footprint of the final food product by a factor of five.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the start-up Green Spot<\/a> transforms by-products such as apple peelings into high-protein flours that are rich in fibre, vitamins, and minerals, but low in calories and gluten-free. Given the variety of possible micro-organisms and basic food products, the Ferments of the Future project will draw on data science and artificial intelligence to try to predict the action of micro-organisms and better target the experimental phases of research.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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\n Voir aussi<\/span>\n
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\n \n \"\"<\/a>\n <\/span>\n \n Prospective du syst\u00e8me alimentaire et de son empreinte \u00e9nerg\u00e9tique et carbone<\/a>\n \n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n
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9 January 2023<\/div>\n LAMBLIN V\u00e9ronique<\/a>\n
\n 11 min.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n\n Lu, vu, entendu\n <\/a>\n Environnement<\/a>\n Soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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There is a second avenue of research into fermentation, known as \u201cprecision fermentation\u201d. In this case, the aim is not to transform a basic food product using micro-organisms, but to use micro-organisms and fermentation to produce food compounds. The micro-organisms are then not ingested together with a final food product; they are used solely to produce food compounds. For example, the process can be used to produce milk casein without initially using milk. Numerous start-ups are attempting to use this technique to produce food flavourings<\/a> or compounds to replace animal proteins<\/a>. The ultimate aim is therefore to produce specific molecules for the food industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the approach \u2014 developing new foods through the fermentation of basic food products, or using modified micro-organisms to produce food additives \u2014 micro-organisms have become resources for improving nutrition and the quality of the human microbiome, and even for offering personalised foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This translation from French has been revised by Sam Ferguson.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

_________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:<\/em> Champomier-Verg\u00e8s<\/span> Marie-Christine et al.<\/em>, <\/span>\u201cThe Hidden Power of Fermented Food<\/a>\u201d,<\/span> La Revue d\u2019INRAE<\/em>, December 2022, pp. 44-66. And interview with Marie-Christine Champomier-Verg\u00e8s, Director of Research at INRAE\u2019s Micalis research centre (Microbiology of food for health). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fermentation is an age-old process for transforming food so as to preserve it for longer. The process involves the action of micro-organisms \u2014 bacteria, yeasts, or moulds \u2014 which transforms sugars into acid. This acidification of the food can prevent the development of pathogenic bacteria, and the chemical reaction also modifies the taste and texture … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":77221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[210,212],"keyword":[908,1480,913,1091],"class_list":["post-79802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newswatch","tag-science-et-technique-en","tag-societe-en","keyword-alimentation-en","keyword-aliments-nutrition-en","keyword-sante-en","keyword-recherche-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79802"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79963,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79802\/revisions\/79963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79802"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=79802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}