Health-Promoting Components in Fermented Foods: An Up-to-Date Systematic Review.

Nutrients. 2019;11(5)
Full text from:

Other resources

Plain language summary

While fermented foods have long been produced, a renewed interest has been observed in Western countries. Several reviews have investigated the health benefits of fermented foods, however none of them have discussed the components that form upon fermentation and their possible effect on health. The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of the health-promoting components of fermentation in order to better understand their role in healthy diets. This systematic review found fermentation increased antioxidant activity of milks, cereals, fruit, vegetables, meat and fish based on 125 analysed articles. Fermentation of different food categories led to varying health benefits including vitamin content, probiotic activity and anti-hypertensive properties. Based on the existing literature, the authors conclude fermented foods should be consumed regularly and recommend they be included in worldwide dietary guidelines.

Abstract

Fermented foods have long been produced according to knowledge passed down from generation to generation and with no understanding of the potential role of the microorganism(s) involved in the process. However, the scientific and technological revolution in Western countries made fermentation turn from a household to a controlled process suitable for industrial scale production systems intended for the mass marketplace. The aim of this paper is to provide an up-to-date review of the latest studies which investigated the health-promoting components forming upon fermentation of the main food matrices, in order to contribute to understanding their important role in healthy diets and relevance in national dietary recommendations worldwide. Formation of antioxidant, bioactive, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, and FODMAP-reducing components in fermented foods are mainly presented and discussed. Fermentation was found to increase antioxidant activity of milks, cereals, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish. Anti-hypertensive peptides are detected in fermented milk and cereals. Changes in vitamin content are mainly observed in fermented milk and fruits. Fermented milk and fruit juice were found to have probiotic activity. Other effects such as anti-diabetic properties, FODMAP reduction, and changes in fatty acid profile are peculiar of specific food categories.

Lifestyle medicine

Patient Centred Factors : Mediators/Fermented foods
Environmental Inputs : Diet ; Nutrients ; Microorganisms
Personal Lifestyle Factors : Nutrition
Functional Laboratory Testing : Not applicable
Bioactive Substances : Microorganisms

Methodological quality

Allocation concealment : Not applicable
Publication Type : Journal Article ; Systematic Review

Metadata