Food Science and Human Wellness 8 (2019) 203–243 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Science and Human Wellness jo urnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fshw Fermentation-enabled wellness foods: A fresh perspective a a,b,∗ a,b a Huan Xiang , Dongxiao Sun-Waterhouse , Geoffrey I.N. Waterhouse , Chun Cui , a Zheng Ruan a South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China b School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Fermented foods represent an important segment of current food markets, especially traditional or eth- Received 15 July 2019 nic food markets. The demand for efficient utilization of agrowastes, together with advancements in Accepted 19 August 2019 fermentation technologies (microbial- and enzyme-based processing), are stimulating rapid growth and Available online 23 August 2019 innovation in the fermented food sector. In addition, the health-promoting benefits of fermented foods are attracting increasingly attention. The microorganisms contained in many common fermented foods can Keywords: serve as “microfactories” to generate nutrients and bioactives with specific nutritional and health func- Fermented foods tionalities. Herein, recent research relating to the manufacture of fermented foods are critically reviewed, Microbial factories Bioactive placing emphasis on the potential health benefits of fermentation-enabled wellness foods. The impor- Probiotics tance of the correct selection of microorganisms and raw materials and the need for precise control of Nutrients fermentation processes are explored. Major knowledge gaps and obstacles to fermented food production Processing technologies and market penetration are discussed. The importance of integrating multidisciplinary knowledge, com- municating with consumers, establishing regulatory frameworks specifically for fermentation-enabled wellness foods and functional fermented foods, are highlighted. © 2019 “Society information”. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction and for food quality modification and culinary enjoyment (owing to the distinct flavors, aromas and textures of fermented foods). Fermentation has a long history in human food production and The microorganisms used in the production of fermented foods consumption. Fermented foods have been an integral component of and beverages include bacteria (e.g. lactic acid bacteria (LAB) such the human diet since 8000 BC and account for nearly a third of the as Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Lactococcus and Bifi- world’s food consumption (up to 40% for some populations). The dobacterium) and molds (e.g. Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus sojae, term “fermentation” comes from the Latin word “fermentum”, and Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium chrysogenum), and yeasts (e.g. is defined as a natural decomposition process which involves chem- Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Andida krusei and Candida humilis). ical transformation of complex organic substances into simpler Considerable effort has been devoted to developing better fer- compounds by the action of intrinsic organic catalysts generated mentation processes, fermentation equipment, fermented food by microorganisms of plant or animal origin (“microbial factories”, products and an associated scientific basis since the 19th century. either naturally occurring or added) [1]. Fermentation is a tradi- The diversity of microbiota and raw materials, as well as the differ- tional method for food preservation (alongside drying and salting), ent types of production processes, lead to a wide range of fermented foods and beverages being available in today’s global food markets (i.e. more than 3500 fermented dairy-, cereal-/pulse-, vegetable- , tea-, fish- and meat-based products, with some representative ∗ Corresponding author at: South China University of Technology, No. 381, examples given in Table 1). Many of these fermented foods are Wushan Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China. produced from local food sources and cultural preference, thus pos- E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Sun-Waterhouse). sessing distinct organoleptic properties such as doenjang, douchi, Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd kimchi, kombucha, lambanog, leppetso, miang, narezushi and tem- peh from East and Southeast Asia; Surströmming, mead, rakfisk, sauerkraut, salami, kefir, filmjölk, prosciutto, quark, smetana and crème fraîche from Europe; Boza, kushuk, mekhalel, torshi and lam- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2019.08.003 2213-4530/© 2019 “Society information”. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 204 H. Xiang et al. / Food Science and Human Wellness 8 (2019) 203–243 Table 1 Examples of global fermented food products. Food source Fermented products Grain based Amazake, beer, bread choujiu, gamju, injera, kvass, makgeolli, murri, ogi, sake, sikhye, sourdough, sowans, rice wine, malt whisky hisky, grainwhisky, idli, dosa, vodka, burukutu, pitoKaffir beer, busaa (maize beer), malawa beer, zambian opaquemaize beer, merissa, seketeh, bouza, kishk, vinegar Vegetable based Kimchi, mixed pickle, Indian pickle, sauerkraut, gundruk, Asinan, Burong mangga, Dalok, Jeruk, Kiam-chai, Kiam-cheyi, Kong-chai, Naw-mai- dong, Pak-siam-dong, Paw-tsay, Phak-dong, Phonlami-dong, Sajur asin, Sambal tempo- jak, Santol, Si-sek-chai, Sunki, Tang-chai, Tempoyak, Vanilla, Szechwan cabbage, Mootsanji, Oigee, Oiji, Oiso baegi, mushrooms, potato beer, Fruit based Wine (including pomace wine), vinegar, cider, perry, brandy, atchara, nata de coco, burong, mangga, asinan, pickling (Lemon pickle, Lime pickle, Mango pickle), vis¸ inata,˘ nata de coco, Nata de pina, Honey based Mead, metheglin, venigar Dairy based Cheese, kefir, kumis, dahi, shuba, cultured milk products like: quark, filmjölk, crèmefraîche, smetana, skyr, yogurt, whey vinegar Fish based Bagoong, faseekh, fish sauce, Garum, Hákarl, jeotgal, rakfisk, shrimp paste, surströmming, shidal, soy sauce, shiokara, Meat based Chin som mok, sausages, salami, Spanish salchichon and chorizo, Icelandic Slátur (blood sausage), Irish pig-blood derived black pudding (blood sausage), beef sticks, pepperoni, Bosnian sudzuk,ˇ Rice, maize, barley Jamón ibérico, Chorizo, Salami, Pepperoni, Nem chua, Som moo, vinegar, kurosu, sorghum beer, based vinegar, Kvass, Ogi, Amazake, sake, Pozol, Tea based Pu-erh tea, Kombucha, Bai-ming, Leppet-so, Miang Soy based Soy sauce soybean sauce, tempeh, tofu, miso, natto, cheonggukjang, chunjang, doenjang, doubanjiang, gochujang, tamari, tauchu, and yellow soybean paste, amriti, dhokla, dosa, idli, papad, and wadi oun makbouss from Middle East; Garri hibiscus seed, hot pepper periodontitis [11], respiratory problems [12], bladder disorders sauce, iru ogiri, laxoox, injera and mauoloh from Africa; Kaanga [13], bone problems [14], liver problems [15], and skin problems pirau, poi and sago bean-based fermented foods from Oceania. [16]. Improving the safety of fermented foods is an ongoing There exist a variety of books and review papers covering spe- global effort, with the health-promoting benefits of these foods cific fermentation-related topics in great detail. This review will recently attracting growing scientific interest because of con- focus on fermentation-enabled foods with nutritional advantages, sumer awareness of diet-disease relationships. Raw material(s) rather than traditional fermented foods and their physicochemical can be transformed through fermentation into new products with characteristics. Only a modicum of information on fermentation- increased nutritional value (due to the generation or enrichment induced sensory and quality attributes is provided, sufficient to of certain bioavailable nutrients during fermentation), enhanced allow the demonstration of multiple beneficial properties of a fer- gut health properties (due to the involvement of probiotics in fer- mented product. mentation), as well as specific biological functionalities (due to the high diversity and amount of bioactive substances created during 2. Classification of fermented foods fermentation) [2,3]. Most recently, fermentation has been con- sidered a sustainable approach for maximizing the utilization of 2.1. Fermented dairy products the bioresources to address the recent global food crisis [4]. Fer- mented foods containing different numbers and species of live Fermented dairy products represent one category of high- microorganisms are listed as one of the top 10 superfoods in 2017. end fermented foods. They gain high popularity owing to their Fermented foods of traditional or innovative nature are produced high contents of lactic acid, galactose, free amino acids, fatty to possess nutritional and quality advantages, offering not only acids and vitamins (especially B complex), and their favorable better nutrition to the general population, but also health func- properties such as anti-inflammatory effects [17], anti-stress tionalities to specific groups of consumers (including vegans, or [18], memory-improving [19,20], neuroprotective and cognition- those on lactose-intolerant or cholesterol restricted diets) [5]. The enhancing effects [21–23], improvement of lactose tolerance, microorganisms