Innovations are occurring across all three types of fermentation.ĭespite microbial fermentation’s long history in food and industrial biotechnology, tremendous potential for innovation remains untapped. Examples include Perfect Day’s dairy proteins, Clara Foods’ egg proteins, and Impossible Foods’ heme protein. Precision fermentation can produce enzymes, flavoring agents, vitamins, natural pigments, and fats. These functional ingredients can improve sensory characteristics and functional attributes of plant-based products or cultivated meat. These ingredients typically require greater purity than the primary protein ingredients and are incorporated at much lower levels. Precision fermentation uses microbial hosts as “cell factories” for producing specific functional ingredients. Examples of biomass fermentation are Quorn’s and Meati’s use of filamentous fungi as the base for their products. This biomass serves as the main ingredient of a food product or as one of several primary ingredients in a blend. The microbial biomass itself can serve as an ingredient, with the cells intact or minimally processed - for example, the cells can be broken open to improve digestibility or enrich for even higher protein content. Biomass fermentation leverages the fast growth and high protein content of many microorganisms to efficiently produce large quantities of protein. There are also more modern renditions of this concept, such as MycoTechnology’s fermentation of plant-based proteins to improve flavor and functionality. Examples are using the fungus Rhizopus to ferment soybeans into tempeh, as well as using various lactic acid bacteria to produce cheese and yogurt. Traditional fermentation results in products with unique flavor and nutritional profiles and modified texture. Within the alternative protein industry, fermentation is used in three primary ways: Traditional fermentation uses intact live microorganisms to modulate and process plant-derived ingredients. Within biology, it refers to a specific metabolic pathway used to generate energy in the absence of oxygen. The term “fermentation” carries distinct meanings across different disciplines. The suite of tools developed through fermentation’s evolution is now poised to revolutionize the food sector by accelerating the rise of alternative proteins. ![]() Over the past century, the role of fermentation has expanded far beyond its historical usage to a much broader range of applications.įermentation now spans industrial chemistry, biomaterials, therapeutics and medicine, fuels, and advanced food ingredients. ![]() Ancient civilizations used microbial cultures to preserve foods, create alcoholic beverages, and improve the nutritional value and bioavailability of foods ranging from kimchi to tempeh.
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