Red Beetroot Fermentation with Different Microbial Consortia to Develop Foods with Improved Aromatic Features

Abstract

The European culinary culture relies on a wide range of fermented products of plant origin, produced mostly through spontaneous fermentation. Unfortunately, this kind of fermentations is difficult to standardize. Therefore, the use of commercial starter cultures is becoming common to achieve more stable, reproducible, and predictable results. Among plant-based fermentation processes, that of the red beet (Beta vulgaris L. var. conditiva) is scarcely described in the scientific literature. In this work, we compared different types of fermentation methods of beetroot and evaluated the processes’ micro-biological, physico-chemical, structural, and volatilome features. A multi-variate analysis was used to match the production of specific VOCs to each starter and to define the correlations between the process variables and volatilome. Overall, the results showed a successful lactic acid fermentation. The analysis of the volatilome clearly discriminated the metabolic profiles of the different fermentations. Among them, the sample fermented with the mixture was the one with the most complex and diversified volatilome. Furthermore, samples did not appear softened after fermentation. Although this work had its weaknesses, such as the limited number of samples and variety, it may pave the way for the standardization of artisanal fermentation procedures of red beetroot in order to improve the quality and safety of the derived food products.

Grapevine and Horseradish Leaves as Natural, Sustainable Additives for Improvement of the Microbial, Sensory, and Antioxidant Properties of Traditionally Fermented Low-Salt Cucumbers

“…It is worth emphasizing that all investigated samples contained more than 8.00 Log CFU LAB/mL. Following the guidelines proposed in recent literature, they can be considered a good source of probiotic microorganisms [34,35]. Following global trends, traditional probiotic foods are desired by consumers due to the growing interest in the microbiome health area.…”

Temperature, Salinity and Garlic Additive Shape the Microbial Community during Traditional Beetroot Fermentation Process

“…It is believed that fermented products can be considered as a promising source of probiotic microorganisms and defined as probiotic food if they contain 6.00–8.00 Log CFU/g [ 3 , 19 ]. Despite the significantly lower number of culturable lactic acid bacteria observed in variants with lower and variable fermentation temperature (TM and T15)—all variants of leaven meet the above criterion and can be defined as a potential source of microorganisms with probiotic properties.…”

“…Due to its easy cultivation and storage, which does not require large financial resources, red beet is available in European markets throughout the year [ 1 , 2 ]. Red beet is a good source of phenolic compounds, carotenoids, flavonoids, betalains, and many vitamins and minerals [ 3 ]. These features, together with the high average sugar content (77.5 g/L), make red beet highly useful for manufacturing fermented products of high nutritional value [ 2 ].…”

Influence of the Salt Addition during the Fermentation Process on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Dried Yellow Beetroot

“…What is more, currently, consumers favor minimally processed foods that incorporate functional ingredients to promote good health, as illustrated by Casciano et al [11] and Ogrodowczyk and Drabi ńska [12]. Fermented foods are increasing in popularity on account of their advantageous nutritional and health-promoting properties.…”