NMR-Based Metabolomic Study on Phaseolus vulgaris Flour Fermented by Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeasts

Abstract

In recent years, fermented foods have attracted increasing attention due to their important role in the human diet, since they supply beneficial health effects, providing important sources of nutrients. In this respect, a comprehensive characterization of the metabolite content in fermented foods is required to achieve a complete vision of physiological, microbiological, and functional traits. In the present preliminary study, the NMR-based metabolomic approach combined with chemometrics has been applied, for the first time, to investigate the metabolite content of Phaseolus vulgaris flour fermented by different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts. A differentiation of microorganisms (LAB and yeasts), LAB metabolism (homo- and heterofermentative hexose fermentation), LAB genus (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Pediococcus), and novel genera (Lacticaseibacillus, Lactiplantibacillus, and Lentilactobacillus) was achieved. Moreover, our findings showed an increase of free amino acids and bioactive molecules, such as GABA, and a degradation of anti-nutritional compounds, such as raffinose and stachyose, confirming the beneficial effects of fermentation processes and the potential use of fermented flours in the production of healthy baking foods. Finally, among all microorganisms considered, the Lactiplantibacillus plantarum species was found to be the most effective in fermenting bean flour, as a larger amount of free amino acids were assessed in their analysis, denoting more intensive proteolytic activity.

Assessing Fermentation Quality, Aerobic Stability, In Vitro Digestibility, and Rumen Degradation Characteristics of Silages Mixed with Sweet Sorghum and Aerial Parts of Licorice

“…The level of LC decreased the level of WSC in the mixed silages, which explains the reduction in LA, perhaps because there was less substrate available for LAB. Tatulli et al (2023) reported that when the WSC content was limited, heterofermentative LAB tended to be active, and several homofermentative strains such as Lactobacillus plantarum could carry out the lactic lactate/acetate conversion [49]. Keles and Demirci (2011) found that inoculation with a heterofermentative LAB (Lactobacillus buchneri) resulted in silage with higher (p < 0.05) concentrations of acetic and propionic acids and lower concentrations of LA and WSC.…”