Fermentation of Cauliflower and White Beans with Lactobacillus plantarum – Impact on Levels of Riboflavin, Folate, Vitamin B12, and Amino Acid Composition

• Published in: Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht) Vol. 75; no. 2; pp. 236 - 242
• Main Authors: Thompson, H. O., Önning, G., Holmgren, K., Strandler, H. S., Hultberg, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural Science, Forestry and Fisheries; Agricultural Sciences; Alanine; Amino acid composition; Amino acids; B-vitamins; Beans; Brassica oleracea; Cauliflowers; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Composition; Cyanocobalamin; Ecology; Fermentation; Folic acid; Food plants; Food quality; Food Science; Glycine; Health Sciences; Histidine; Hälsovetenskap; Isoleucine; Lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacilli; Lactobacillus plantarum; Lantbruksvetenskap och veterinärmedicin; Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske; Legumes; Leucine; Livsmedelsvetenskap; Meat; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Nutrition; Nutrition and Dietetics; Nutritional quality; Näringslära; Original Paper; pH effects; Phaseolus vulgaris; Plant Physiology; Plant-based foods; Riboflavin; Valine; Vitamin B; Vitamin B12; Weight; Nutritional quality; Lactic acid bacteria; B-vitamins
• ISSN: 0921-9668; 1573-9104
• DOI: 10.1007/s11130-020-00806-2

As diets change in response to ethical, environmental, and health concerns surrounding meat consumption, fermentation has potential to improve the taste and nutritional qualities of plant-based foods. In this study, cauliflower, white beans, and a 50:50 cauliflower-white bean mixture were fermented using different strains of Lactobacillus plantarum . In all treatments containing cauliflower, the pH was reduced to <4 after 18 h, while treatments containing only white beans had an average pH of 4.8 after 18 h. Following fermentation, the riboflavin, folate, and vitamin B 12 content of the cauliflower-white bean mixture was measured, and compared against that of an unfermented control. The riboflavin and folate content of the mixture increased significantly after fermentation. Relative to control samples, riboflavin increased by 76–113%, to 91.6 ± 0.6 μg/100 g fresh weight, and folate increased by 32–60%, to 58.8 ± 2.0 μg/100 g fresh weight. For one bacterial strain, L. plantarum 299, a significant 66% increase in vitamin B 12 was observed, although the final amount (0.048 ± 0.013 μg/100 g fresh weight) was only a small fraction of recommended daily intake. Measurements of amino acid composition in the mixture revealed small increases in alanine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, and valine in the fermented sample compared to the unfermented control.