Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials, and Industrial Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Niccolò Cusano, Rome, Italy.
Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2024 May;23(3):e13356. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.13356.
Recently, the role of the gut microbiota in metabolic health, immunity, behavioral balance, longevity, and intestine comfort has been the object of several studies from scientific communities. They were encouraged by a growing interest from food industries and consumers toward novel fermented ingredients and formulations with powerful biological effects, such as pre, pro, and postbiotic products. Depending on the selected strains, the operating conditions, the addition of suitable reagents or enzymes, the equipment, and the reactor configurations, functional compounds with high bioactivity, such as short-chain fatty acids, gamma-aminobutyric acid, bioactive peptides, and serotonin, can be enhanced and/or produced through fermentation of several vegetable matrices. Otherwise, their formation can also be promoted directly in the gut after the dietary intake of fermented foods: In this case, fermentation will aim to increase the content of precursor substances, such as indigestible fibers, polyphenols, some amino acids, and resistant starch, which can be potentially metabolized by endogenous gut microorganisms and converted in healthy molecules. This review provides an overview of the main functional components currently investigated in literature and the associated gut health benefits. The current state of the art about fermentation technology as a promising functionalization tool to promote the direct or indirect formation of gut-health-enhancing components was deepened, highlighting the importance of optimizing microorganism selection, system setups, and process conditions according to the target compound of interest. The collected data suggested the possibility of gaining novel functional food ingredients or products rich in functional molecules through fermentation without performing additional extraction and purification stages, which are needed when conventional culture broths are used.
最近，肠道微生物群在代谢健康、免疫、行为平衡、长寿和肠道舒适方面的作用已经成为科学界多项研究的对象。食品行业和消费者对具有强大生物学效应的新型发酵成分和配方（如前、后生元和益生菌产品）的兴趣日益浓厚，这也鼓励了他们进行研究。根据所选菌株、操作条件、添加合适的试剂或酶、设备和反应器配置，可以通过发酵几种蔬菜基质来增强和/或生产具有高生物活性的功能性化合物，如短链脂肪酸、γ-氨基丁酸、生物活性肽和血清素。否则，它们的形成也可以通过食用发酵食品后直接在肠道中促进：在这种情况下，发酵将旨在增加前体物质的含量，如不可消化的纤维、多酚、一些氨基酸和抗性淀粉，这些物质可以被内源性肠道微生物潜在代谢，并转化为健康分子。本文综述了目前文献中研究的主要功能成分及其与肠道健康益处的关联。本文深入探讨了发酵技术作为一种有前途的功能化工具的现状，以促进肠道健康增强成分的直接或间接形成，强调了根据目标化合物优化微生物选择、系统设置和工艺条件的重要性。收集的数据表明，通过发酵获得富含功能性分子的新型功能性食品成分或产品是可能的，而无需进行额外的提取和纯化阶段，当使用常规培养肉汤时，这是必需的。
