Semantics of Dairy Fermented Foods: A Microbiologist’s Perspective

Abstract

Food ontologies are acquiring a central role in human nutrition, providing a standardized terminology for a proper description of intervention and observational trials. In addition to bioactive molecules, several fermented foods, particularly dairy products, provide the host with live microorganisms, thus carrying potential “genetic/functional” nutrients. To date, a proper ontology to structure and formalize the concepts used to describe fermented foods is lacking. Here we describe a semantic representation of concepts revolving around what consuming fermented foods entails, both from a technological and health point of view, focusing actions on kefir and Parmigiano Reggiano, as representatives of fresh and ripened dairy products. We included concepts related to the connection of specific microbial taxa to the dairy fermentation process, demonstrating the potential of ontologies to formalize the various gene pathways involved in raw ingredient transformation, connect them to resulting metabolites, and finally to their consequences on the fermented product, including technological, health and sensory aspects. Our work marks an improvement in the ambition of creating a harmonized semantic model for integrating different aspects of modern nutritional science. Such a model, besides formalizing a multifaceted knowledge, will be pivotal for a rich annotation of data in public repositories, as a prerequisite to generalized meta-analysis.

Kajian Lama Fermentasi dan Konsentrasi Ekstrak Daun Maja (Crescentia cujete Linn.) terhadap Karakteristik Kefir Susu Kambing

“…Pembentukan asam laktat dihasilkan selama proses fermentasi oleh bakteri homofermentatif seperti Lactobacillus dan Leuconostoc melalui proses glikolisis jalur Embden-Mayerhoff-Parnass yang mengubah glukosa menjadi asam piruvat, yang kemudian diubah menjadi asam laktat (Vitali et al, 2022). Proses metabolisme laktosa yaitu enzim β-galaktosidase memecah laktosa menjadi glukosa dan galaktosa.…”

FDF-DB: A Database of Traditional Fermented Dairy Foods and Their Associated Microbiota

“…Recently, a growing interest in fermented foods has emerged, related to the benefits that some of the microorganisms provide to human health, especially their contribution to a healthy gut microbiome and their potential role as probiotics [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Fermented products are a complex category of foods, which have been recently described by an expert panel of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) as “foods made through desired microbial growth and enzymatic conversions of food components”.…”

New Developments in Nutraceuticals and Functional Food Products: Microorganisms as Alternative Sources of Nutritive and Beneficial Components

“…Finally, food ontologies are becoming increasingly important in human nutrition research to standardize the terminology used and to create a machine-operable conceptual model. The study of Vitali et al [ 9 ], using kefir and Parmigiano Reggiano as representatives of fresh and ripened dairy products, proposed such a semantic model for concepts related to consuming fermented foods from both a technological and health perspective to formalize the role of specific microbial taxa, and specific gene pathways, in the different steps of the dairy fermentation process. In this way, their model lays down a connection between the actors (taxa and pathways) involved in the raw ingredient transformation of fermented dairy products, connects them to resulting metabolites, and analyzes their consequences on the fermented product.…”