The Miraculous Wonders of Flavors & Products of Fermentation
What is fermentation?
At its core it’s the employment of Microbes whether its bacteria, molds, or yeasts to transform food through enzymes produced by these microorganisms. In the strictest of definitions is the process of microorganisms convert sugars into another substance in the absence of oxygen.
Hipster lettuce wild ferments employ the use of bacteria to create its products. Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that come in an array from malignant bacteria that can produce toxins capable of causing death to billions of beneficial bacteria that are living on and inside of us that are responsible for healthy biological processes. The ones we employ are known as lactic acid bacteria (lactobacillus) and Acetic acid bacteria (Acetobacter).
Why are fermentations delicious?
Our bodies have evolved over thousands of years to employ our sense of smell and taste buds to identify foods that will sustain our bodies. In a simple reason for fermented foodstuffs become delicious is due to the microorganism’s process of converting starch into simple sugars and meats into smaller amino acid components that allow us to connect on a primitive level. These ferments take more complicated foodstuffs into the sweet or umami rich raw materials our bodies need making them more nutritious and easily digestible.
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB)
LAB are rod -and -sphere shaped bacteria that are found in abundance on the skin of fruits, vegetables and humans. These bacteria are low-pH tolerant, and Halo-tolerant (salt-tolerant) and anaerobic (thrive in the absence of oxygen). We use them for their ability to convert sugar into lactic acid which gives pickles, sauerkrauts, kimchi, and other lacto-fermented foods their characteristic sourness.
Acetic Acid Bacteria (AAB)
AAB are rod bacteria that are already abundant on the surface of many foods. They are used in conjunction with yeast (yeast creates the alcohol). AAB provide the sharp sourness found in vinegars and kombucha from the conversion of alcohol sugars into acetic acid. They are also able to thrive in their own created low-pH environment but require oxygen making them an aerobic bacterium. These vinegars produced are the method in which pickling provides low-pH environment for preservation in pickled foods.
Wild Fermentation!
Hipster Lettuce uses wild fermentation in which we create environments that are conductive to the growth of naturally occurring beneficial microbes, and detrimental to malevolent ones. This meaning we use non-inoculated and very diverse fermentation that depends entirely on the wide set of LAB in the environment and then letting nature do its thing allowing for nuance and complexity that is not found in commercially inoculated food products.
Nutritional & Health Benefits of Fermented Foods.
During fermentation, LAB synthesize vitamins and minerals, produce biologically active peptides with enzymes such as proteinase and peptidase, and remove some non-nutrients. Biologically active peptides produced are well known for their health benefits:
Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA): have a blood pressure lowering effect
Exopolysaccharides: exhibit prebiotic properties
Bacteriocins: anti-microbial effects
Sphingolipids: anti-carcinogenic and anti-microbial properties
Bioactive peptides: anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, opioid antagonist, anti-allergenic &
Blood pressure lowering effects
National Research Counsil: (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28945458/)
Many fermented foods are a rich source of nutrients, phytochemicals, bioactive compounds, and probiotic microbes. The excellent biological activities of these functional foods, such as anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory functions, are widely attributable to their high antioxidant content and lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB). LAB contribute to the maintenance of a healthy gut microbiota composition and improvement of local and systemic immunity. Besides, antioxidant compounds are involved in several functional properties of fermented plant products by neutralizing free radicals, regulating antioxidant enzyme activities, reducing oxidative stress, ameliorating inflammatory responses, and enhancing immune system performance. Therefore, these products may protect against chronic inflammatory diseases, which are known as the leading cause of mortality worldwide.
(Shahbazi, Bagheri & Yasavoli, e et al, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33946303)
Works Cited:
AC;, Ş N. (n.d.). Health benefits of fermented foods. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28945458/
Katz, S. E. (2013). The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing.
National Research Council (US) Panel on the Applications of Biotechnology to Traditional Fermented Foods. (1992, January 01). Lactic Acid Fermentations. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234703/
Redzepi, R., & Zilber, D. (2018). The Noma guide to fermentation. New York: Artisan.
Shahbazi R;Sharifzad F;Bagheri R;Alsadi N;Yasavoli-Sharahi H;Matar C;. (n.d.). Anti-Inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Properties of Fermented Plant Foods. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33946303/