Innovation\ Ingredients - N°64 to today and tomorrow New players are entering the sector. Such is a mixture of yoghurt, water and spices. an example is Jonny Wilkinson, a former English rugby player, with its brand No.1 The dishes now Kombucha. Lokki Kombucha, a French company, has set up its own kombucha Dishes are using fermentation as well. brewery in the South of France and, most Many fermented deli dishes are based notably, has developed a drink which asso- on soy processing. Such examples are ciates kombucha with spirulina and mint. tempeh, natto and tofu. Tempeh is made by Kits available for purchase online - at a fermenting dehulled, cooked and crushed price of nearly €30 - allow private indivi- soy beans with the fungus Rhizopus oli- Kimchi liquid probiotic duals to start their own home-made pro- gosporus. Visually speaking, tempeh is Milkimchi: Chinese duction. like a nougat thanks to the microorganism cabbage, red and yellow onions lacto-fermented that produces a mycelium that covers the in brine (fi sh sauce: Living drinks beans. It should not be confounded with anchovies and salt). (Editors’s note: kimchi tofu, which is coagulated soy milk. Due to is a traditional dish in Kombucha is a living food populated with its high-quality protein content (essential the Korean cuisine, the amino acids), tempeh can be a substitute vegetables are soaked microorganisms that continue to develop in brine for lacto- if their necessary substrates are present. for animal-origin protein. Moreover, as it fermentation purposes, If the yeasts are more numerous than the preserves soy beans as such (except for thereby developing acidity). bacteria at the beginning of the fermenta- the hull) and does not subject them to any tion process, there may be an imbalance thermal processing, all the nutrients are leading to a higher amount of alcohol. persevered. The nutrient profile may be Obviously, it will not be an excessive improved by fermentation thereby increa- 119 amount, but the regulation has set the sing the number of certain amino acids threshold of 0.5% for alcohol-free drinks; and reducing the number of certain anti- beyond this limit, a tax is imposed to com- nutritional factors. Nevertheless, the best panies. This topic is a source of conflict for temped is the artisanal one. The indus- various companies on this market - they file trial one is generally pasteurized, which lawsuits against each other, accusing each decreases its nutritional quality. other of having an alcohol content higher than the approved threshold. For example, for the US company Better Booch, tests performed over a 6-month period revealed BACKGROUND alcohol levels of up to 2.7%. Other beverages propose the benefits of Yoghurt is the most common fermented food a “living” drink derived from fermented in the world. Well known in the Balkans, milks - they differ only by the used process it was introduced in Western Europe and (brewed or non-brewed) and ferment notably in Spain and France by the Carasso strains. Curds and buttermilk are very family, the creators of Danone, in 1919. The popular in France. In the Caucasus area, founder, Isaac Carasso was inspired by the kefir is highly esteemed while in India, lassi work of Elie Metchnikoff - a well-known is everyone’s favourite. Kefir is a milk fer- Russian scientist who was awarded the Nobel mented with kefir grains (culture of bacteria Prize for his description of phagocytosis - on and yeast that resembles “cauliflower”) lactic ferments when setting up his yoghurt and cow, goat, or sheep milk. A version production factory for the people in Barcelona of the “traditional” kefir is the kefir with suffering from digestive problems. Yoghurts were sold in pharmacies as medicines fruit. The principle is similar to the tradi- before being introduced in dairy shops. tional recipe: kefir grains are added, but this time to water, sugar and fresh or dried fruit. Strictly speaking, lassi is not a fer- mented drink as this craftmade beverage News on Functional & Health Ingredients \ N°64 \ July - August - September 2018 \ ■