Lane - Fermentation essentials: the essential guide for fermentation and probiotic foods

Fermentation Essentials

The Essential Guide for Fermentation and Probiotic Foods

Copyright 2015 by Sandi Lane

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Different cultures from all over the world serve food produced through the process of fermentation. These food items do not only taste great, but they are also rich in good bacteria that can drastically improve peoples health and well-being.

Early human beings used fermentation, as a mechanism to preserve food, improve its taste and promote is nutritional value. The process may have even predated human existence.

Hundreds of years ago in China, laborers were provided with fermented vegetables as part of their diet while constructing the Great Wall of China. This tradition went as far as Korea, where every household store fermented cabbage, also known as kimchi.

Historians thought that fermentation was an idea conceived out of the need to prolong the shelf life of several crops in preparation for the long winter season. Aside from just preserving food crops, fermentation has been discovered to have been breaking down the food crops into a material that are better digested by the body. Digested fermented products release special compounds that provide the body a rest period from taking in harmful processed foods. In addition, it promotes better absorption of food nutrients which results to healthier digestion.

The acids formed when fermenting foods also serve as a natural preservative. This eliminates having to use synthetic preservatives.

Fermentation serves as an engine of life as the process provides a vehicle for nature to use the nutrients from the foods former form to create flavor and improve nutrients using a method called decomposition.

Definition

Fermentation is a process in which a substance is broken down by microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast into simpler substance. It is through this process that grape juice turns into wine and milk curdles into cheese.

Several government-sanctioned health agencies, medical facilities, and renowned nutritionists have all recognized the health benefits of eating foods that underwent fermentation. These benefits include:

1. Fermented food improves gut flora. The digestive tract requires a good and healthy strain of bacteria to ensure optimal digestion. Taking in raw, fermented food on a regular basis helps improve the balance of the healthy bacteria in the gut. As a result, the body will be relieved of chronic conditions including allergies, constipation, and intolerance. It is as if the body is cleansing itself from inside out.

1. It eases digestion. Fermentation involves breaking down a substance into its less complex components. This way, the body no longer has to process the food thoroughly. This allows people who are previously intolerant to specific foods groups (like wheat or dairy) to consume their fermented version. Several studies showed that eating fermented products on a regular basis improves digestion.

1. They boost vitamin levels in the body. Even if fermentation were supposed to break down the food into simpler food, the amount of vitamins in the food remains the same. For instance, kimchi (fermented cabbage) has higher amounts of vitamin than just plain cabbage. There are higher folic acid levels in Kefir than in milk. In most cases, vitamin levels remain the same even after fermentation. The same cannot be said from boiling or cooking vegetables.

They increase enzymes in the body. Enzymes aid the body in digestion. At the absence of the right kind of enzymes in the body, digestion may hinder the body from absorbing the sufficient amount of nutrients from the food taken in. Fermented foods replenish the supply of these kinds of enzymes thereby ensuring healthier digestion.

T here are two main types of fermentation:

(1) Wild Fermentation . This type of fermentation does not require external introduction of yeast or any similar cultures. Fermented vegetables such as kimchi, sauerkraut, pickle, sourdough bread and some alcohols are all produced through wild fermentation. This involves a simple process of transforming foods into a more appetizing variety through acetic acid fermentation , lacto-fermentation, and ethanol fermentation. As a result, these products cannot be infected by harmful bacteria strains because of the production acetic acid, lactic acid and alcohol respectively.

(2) Starter Fermentation. Unlike wild fermentation, starter fermentation requires the introduction of the appropriate yeast, bacteria, or mold in creating the desired product for instance: fermented dairies such as kefir and yogurt. Cheese, kombucha, wine and beet all require a starter.

There are different kinds of cultures that can be used for fermentation, and each of which is used for producing specific products. For example, a specific strain of bacteria is used when producing beer.

When preparing cultured vegetables, there are several choices of starter cultures. In this case, in fact, starter cultures can be used repeatedly in different batches while there are some that can be taken from the resulting product for later use.

T here are different ways to ferment foods, but there is no consensus as to which of these methods work best. Among the most popular fermentation methods include whey, salt and other starter culture largely because of its availability. These methods are often used for seeds, grains, fish, meats, vegetables, and fruits. Each method has its own upside and downside.

(1) Salt. The earliest known fermentation method is through salting food. Salt is a drying agent that absorbs the moisture out of the food preventing the proliferation of molds and other bacteria. One bacteria strain that can withstand the drying capacity of salts is called the Lactobacilli strain. This strain can thrive even in harsher conditions. It produces lactic acid while keeping the texture of the food intact. Especially for vegetables like cucumber pieces, it is important to retain the crunchy texture of cucumber.