Abstract
One of the important dietary cultures of the Himalayan people is consumption of fermented foods and drinking of alcoholic fermented beverages, which are traditionally produced by the ...multiracial and multiethnic communities of the Himalayan people using their ‘ethno-microbiological’ knowledge of food fermentation. Besides delicacy, ethnical and cultural values, the Himalayan fermented foods are also the hubs of biological resources of beneficial and functional microorganisms which have been contributing health-promoting benefits to thousands of Himalayan people with a dearth of modern food products. There is no or rare publications on sporadic history, antiquity and origin of the Himalayan fermented foods. We designed questionnaire and sought information from different communities in different places of the Himalayas on oral history, legendries on origin and antiquity of fermented foods and alcoholic fermented beverages. Hence, the present article discusses the food culture, oral history, legendries and antiquity of some Himalayan fermented foods and alcoholic fermented beverages in the Himalayan regions, and also to validate the scientific evidence-based ethno-microbiological practices performed by the Himalayan people for food fermentation.
In this study,
strain DHCU70 isolated from
, a fermented milk product and
strain DKP1 isolated from
, a fermented soybean food of India, respectively were evaluated for their bacteriocin production ...and probiotic properties. Both strains of
(DHCU70 and DKP1) were found to have potent antimicrobial activity against
ATCC 9341. Bacteriocin produced by
strains DHCU70 and DKP1 did not exhibit inhibition of cell wall, DNA and fatty acids biosynthesis mechanisms as evaluated by whole cell reporter assays. We characterized the bacteriocin encoding genes in
strains DHCU70 and DKP1 by whole genome sequence which consisted of a single and circular chromosome with genome size of 3.38 Mb (GC content of 44.3%) and 3.39 Mb, respectively and a GC content of 44.3%.
DHCU70 has 3252 number of protein encoding genes comprising 89 number of RNA genes (69tRNA, 16rRNA, 4nc RNA) whereas
DKP1 has total of 3277 number of protein encoding genes with 89 number. of RNA genes (69tRNA, 16S rRNA, 4nc RNA). Analysis revealed the presence of 20.5 kb long and 23 numbers of plantaricin encoding locus (
locus) for production of antimicrobial compound. BAGEL analysis has shown that the
locus of both the strains of
showed maximum sequence similarity with plantaricin NC8 of
NC8, originally isolated from grass silage. Annotated whole genome sequence of both strains DHCU70 and DKP1 was analyzed for the presence of probiotic marker genes. The probiotic properties of these strains of were also evaluated
. Due to the presence of genes responsible for antimicrobial activity and probiotic properties, both strains of
may be considered as a suitable probiotic candidate in food industry.
is a popular sticky fermented soybean food of the Eastern Himalayan regions of North East India, east Nepal, and south Bhutan. We hypothesized that some dominant bacteria in
may contribute to the ...formation of targeted and non-targeted metabolites for health benefits; hence, we studied the microbiome-metabolite mining of
. A total of 1,394,094,912 bp with an average of 464,698,304 ± 120,720,392 bp was generated from
metagenome, which resulted in the identification of 47 phyla, 331 families, 709 genera, and 1,560 species. Bacteria (97.78%) were the most abundant domain with the remaining domains of viruses, eukaryote, and archaea.
(93.36%) was the most abundant phylum with 280 species of
, among which
was the most dominant species in
followed by
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
. Predictive metabolic pathways revealed the abundance of genes associated with metabolism (60.66%), resulting in 216 sub-pathways. A total of 361 metabolites were identified by metabolomic analysis (liquid chromatography-mass spectrophotometry, LC-MS). The presence of metabolites, such as chrysin, swainsonine, and 3-hydroxy-L-kynurenine (anticancer activity) and benzimidazole (antimicrobial, anticancer, and anti-HIV activities), and compounds with immunomodulatory effects in
supports its therapeutic potential. The correlation between the abundant species of
and primary and secondary metabolites was constructed with a bivariate result. This study proves that
spp. contribute to the formation of many targeted and untargeted metabolites in
for health-promoting benefits.
Kinema, hawaijar, tungrymbai, bekang, aakhone, and peruyaan are naturally fermented ethnic soybean foods of India; they are popular among the Mongolian-origin races in the Eastern Himalayas. Bacillus ...subtilis is the dominant functional bacterium in all naturally fermented soybean foods of these regions. Although there is a good demand for ethnic fermented soybean foods among local consumers in north-east India, the production is limited to household level. A ready-to-use pulverized starter culture for kinema production can be introduced to kinema-makers or similar sticky fermented soybean foods of north-east India and adapted to local conditions for additional income generation. Ethnic fermented soybeans are one of the major food resources in the Eastern Himalayas; they supplement inexpensive, high-digested plant protein in the local diet with low fat/cholesterol content and high nutritive value as well as antioxidant and other health-promoting properties.
Filamentous fungi are important organisms in traditionally prepared amylase and alcohol-producing dry starters in India. We collected 40 diverse types of amylase and alcohol-producing starters from ...eight states in North East India viz.
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
. The average fungal population was 4.9 × 10
cfu/g with an average of pH 5.3 and 10.7%, respectively. In the present study, 131 fungal isolates were isolated and characterized based on macroscopic and microscopic characteristics and were grouped into 44 representative fungal strains. Based on results of morphological characteristics and ITS gene sequencing, 44 fungal strains were grouped into three phyla represented by Ascomycota (48%), Mucoromycota (38%), and Basidiomycota (14%). Taxonomical keys to species level was illustrated on the basis of morphological characteristics and ITS gene sequencing, aligned to the fungal database of NCBI GenBank, which showed seven genera with 16 species represented by
(20%),
(11%),
(11%),
(11%),
(7%),
(7%),
(5%),
(5%),
(5%)
(5%),
(2%),
(2%),
(2%),
(2%),
(2%), and
(2%). The highest Shannon diversity index
was recorded in
of Sikkim (
: 1.74) and the lowest in
of Manipur (
: 0.69). Fungal species present in these amylolytic starters are morphologically, ecologically and phylogenetically diverse and showed high diversity within the community.
Fermented foods in a global age: East meets West Tamang, Jyoti Prakash; Cotter, Paul D.; Endo, Akihito ...
Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety,
January 2020, 2020-01-00, 20200101, Volume:
19, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Fermented foods and alcoholic beverages have long been an important part of the human diet in nearly every culture on every continent. These foods are often well‐preserved and serve as stable and ...significant sources of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Despite these common features, however, many differences exist with respect to substrates and products and the types of microbes involved in the manufacture of fermented foods and beverages produced globally. In this review, we describe these differences and consider the influence of geography and industrialization on fermented foods manufacture. Whereas fermented foods produced in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand usually depend on defined starter cultures, those made in Asia and Africa often rely on spontaneous fermentation. Likewise, in developing countries, fermented foods are not often commercially produced on an industrial scale. Although many fermented products rely on autochthonous microbes present in the raw material, for other products, the introduction of starter culture technology has led to greater consistency, safety, and quality. The diversity and function of microbes present in a wide range of fermented foods can now be examined in detail using molecular and other omic approaches. The nutritional value of fermented foods is now well‐appreciated, especially in resource‐poor regions where yoghurt and other fermented foods can improve public health and provide opportunities for economic development. Manufacturers of fermented foods, whether small or large, should follow Good Manufacturing Practices and have sustainable development goals. Ultimately, preferences for fermented foods and beverages depend on dietary habits of consumers, as well as regional agricultural conditions and availability of resources.
Preparation of dry starters for alcohol production is an age-old traditional technology in the Eastern Himalayan regions of east Nepal, the Darjeeling hills, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh in India, ...and Bhutan. We studied the bacterial diversity in 35 samples of traditionally prepared dry starters, represented by marcha of Nepal, Sikkim, the Darjeeling hills, and Bhutan, phab of Bhutan, and paa, pee, and phut of Arunachal Pradesh, respectively. Populations of bacteria in these starters were 105 to 108 cfu/g. A total of 201 bacterial strains were isolated from starter samples, phenotypically characterized, and their identities confirmed by the 16S rRNA sanger sequencing method. The dominant phylum was Firmicutes (85%), followed by Proteobacteria (9%), and Actinobacteria (6%). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (59%) formed the most abundant group, followed by non-LAB (32%) and Gram-negative bacteria (9%). Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing result, we identified LAB: Enterococcus durans, E. faecium, E. fecalis, E. hirae, E. lactis, Pediococcus acidilactici, P. pentosaceus, Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum, Lb. pentosus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and Weissella cibaria; non-LAB: Bacillus subtilis subsp. inaquosorum, B. circulans, B. albus, B. cereus, B. nakamurai, B. nitratireducens, B. pseudomycoides, B. zhangzhouensis, Kocuria rosea, Staphylococcus hominis subsp. hominis, S. warneri, S. gallinarum, S. sciuri, Lysinibacillus boronitolerans, Brevibacterium frigoritolerans, and Micrococcus yunnanensis; Gram-negative bacteria: Pseudomonas putida, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter hormaechei subsp. xiangfangensis, E. hormaechei subsp. steigerwaltii, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. We characterized diversity indexes of the bacterial community present in traditionally prepared dry starters. This is the first report on the bacterial diversity of traditionally dry starters of the Eastern Himalayas by sanger sequencing.
Pe poke is a naturally fermented sticky soybean food of Myanmar. The present study was aimed to profile the whole microbial community structure and their predictive gene functionality of pe poke ...samples prepared in different fermentation periods viz. 3 day (3ds), 4 days (4ds), 5 days (5ds) and sun-dried sample (Sds). The pH of samples was 7.6 to 8.7, microbial load was 2.1-3.9 x 108 cfu/g with dynamic viscosity of 4.0±1.0 to 8.0±1.0cP. Metataxonomic profile of pe poke samples showed different domains viz. bacteria (99.08%), viruses (0.65%), eukaryota (0.08%), archaea (0.03%) and unclassified sequences (0.16%). Firmicutes (63.78%) was the most abundant phylum followed by Proteobacteria (29.54%) and Bacteroidetes (5.44%). Bacillus thermoamylovorans was significantly abundant in 3ds and 4ds (p<0.05); Ignatzschineria larvae was significantly abundant in 5ds (p<0.05), whereas, Bacillus subtilis was significantly abundant in Sds (p <0.05). A total of 172 species of Bacillus was detected. In minor abundance, the existence of bacteriophages, archaea, and eukaryotes were also detected. Alpha diversity analysis showed the highest Simpson's diversity index in Sds comparable to other samples. Similarly, a non-parametric Shannon's diversity index was also highest in Sds. Good's coverage of 0.99 was observed in all samples. Beta diversity analysis using PCoA showed no significant clustering. Several species were shared between samples and many species were unique to each sample. In KEGG database, a total number of 33 super-pathways and 173 metabolic sub-pathways were annotated from the metagenomic Open Reading Frames. Predictive functional features of pe poke metagenome revealed the genes for the synthesis and metabolism of wide range of bioactive compounds including various essential amino acids, different vitamins, and enzymes. Spearman's correlation was inferred between the abundant species and functional features.
The lesser-known traditionally processed meat products such as beef
, pork
,
, and
are popular food items in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in India. The present study aimed to assess the ...microbiological safety of traditional meat products by identifying the potential spoilage or pathogenic bacteria, detecting the enterotoxins, and screening the antibiotic susceptibility patterns. The pH and moisture contents of the meat products varied from 5.3 to 5.9 and from 1.5 to 18%, respectively. The microbial loads of aerobic bacteria were 10
to 10
cfu/g,
10
to 10
cfu/g,
10
to 10
cfu/g, and total coliform 10
to 10
cfu/g, respectively. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the bacterial species isolated from traditionally processed meat products were
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests detected
spp. and enterotoxins produced by
well as
in a few tested samples. However, the PCR method did not detect the virulence genes of
and
in the isolates. Virulence gene (
) was detected in
BSLST44 and
BULST54 isolated from beef
and in
PSST53 isolated from pork
. No enterotoxins were detected in
samples. The antibiotic sensitivity test showed that all bacterial strains were susceptible toward gentamicin, cotrimoxazole, norfloxacin, and trimethoprim. Gram-positive bacteria showed 100% sensitivity against clindamycin and erythromycin; however, 50% of the resistance pattern was observed against oxacillin followed by penicillin (33%) and ampicillin (27%).
Spontaneously fermented soybean foods with sticky-textured and umami-flavor are popular delicacies of multi-ethnic communities of the Eastern Himalayas. Even though species of Bacillus have been ...reported earlier as pre-dominant bacteria, we hypothesized that some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) present in these unique soy-based foods may exhibit probiotic properties. Hence, the present study is aimed to evaluate some probiotic attributes of LAB. A total of 352 bacterial isolates from spontaneously fermented soybean foods of the Eastern Himalayas viz., kinema, grep-chhurpi, peha, peron namsing and peruñyaan were preliminarily screened for survival in low pH, bile salt tolerance, and cell surface hydrophobicity. Finally, eight probiotic LAB were selected and identified, based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as Pediococcus acidilactici Ki20 and Enterococcus faecium Kn19 (isolated from kinema), E. faecalis Gc21 (grep-chhurpi), P. acidilactici Ph32 (peha), E. faecium Pn11 and E. faecalis Pn37 (peron namsing), E. lactis Py03, and E. lactis Py08 (peruñyaan). In vitro probiotic attributes, E. faecium Kn19 (73.67 ± 1.05) and P. acidilactici Ph32 (79.71 ± 0.13%) recorded higher survival ability in acid and bile salt test, respectively. Furthermore, attachment ability of isolates to hydrocarbons showed ≥80% adhesion property with E. faecalis Gc21 (90.50 ± 10.14%) marked the highest degree of hydrophobicity, and P. acidilactici Ki20 showed the higher auto-aggregation and co-aggregation property. LAB strains were able to produce antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria. Genetic screening revealed the presence of genes responsible for acid tolerance (groEl, clpL), bile salt tolerance (apf, bsh), adhesion (msa, mub1), and bacteriocin producing genes for pediocin (pedA, pedB) and enterocin (entA, entB). The present study highlighted the probiotic potentials of LAB strains isolated from Himalayan naturally fermented soybean foods that may be developed as a starter or co-starter culture for controlled and optimized fermentation of soybeans.
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