Improvement of Iron and β-Carotene Bioaccessibility in Complementary Foods: Biofortification of Local Crops With Organic Residual Products and Microorganisms.

Micronutrient deficiencies remain a great public health challenge worldwide with iron, zinc, and vitamin A being the most problematic. It has been shown that biofortification through agronomic strategies can increase their micronutrient content, but data on the bioavailability remain limited. In Senegal, consumption of cereals and legumes is high, and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), rich in β-carotene, has been introduced a decade ago.

The use of propionic and lactic acid bacteria to produce cobalamin and folate in injera, an Ethiopian cereal-based fermented food.

Like in many developing countries, the traditional Ethiopian diet relies mainly on starchy staple foods and often lacks sufficient animal-sourced foods which are crucial for cobalamin intake. Furthermore, the concentration of folate in traditionally prepared injera, an Ethiopian cereal-based fermented staple food, is highly variable and injera contains biologically inactive corrinoids. This study aimed to improve the cobalamin and folate content of injera by using cobalamin-producing Propionibacterium freudenreichii and folate-producing Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains, both individually and combined.

The microbiota and the host organism switch between cooperation and competition based on dietary iron levels.

The microbiota significantly impacts digestive epithelium functionality, especially in nutrient processing. Given the importance of iron for both the host and the microbiota, we hypothesized that host-microbiota interactions fluctuate with dietary iron levels. We compared germ-free (GF) and conventional mice (SPF) fed iron-containing (65 mg/Kg) or iron-depleted (<6 mg/Kg) diets.

Faecal microbiota of schoolchildren is associated with nutritional status and markers of inflammation: a double-blinded cluster-randomized controlled trial using multi-micronutrient fortified rice.

Faecal microbiota plays a critical role in human health, but its relationship with nutritional status among schoolchildren remains under-explored. Here, in a double-blinded cluster-randomized controlled trial on 380 Cambodian schoolchildren, we characterize the impact of six months consumption of two types of rice fortified with different levels of vitamins and minerals on pre-specified outcomes. We investigate the association between the faecal microbiota (16SrRNA sequencing) and age, sex, nutritional status (underweight, stunting), micronutrient status (iron, zinc and vitamin A deficiencies, anaemia, iron deficient anaemia, hemoglobinopathy), inflammation (systemic, gut), and parasitic infection.

Cereal-based fermented foods as a source of folate and cobalamin: The role of endogenous microbiota.

Folate (vitamin B9) and cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiencies potentially affect millions of people worldwide, leading to different pathologies. In Ethiopia, the diet is characterized by high consumption of fermented cereal-based foods such as injera, a good source of folate but not of cobalamin, which is only found in foods of animal origin that are rarely consumed. Some of the bacteria responsible for the fermentation of cereals can synthesize cobalamin, but whether or not fermented cereal food products contain cobalamin remains underexplored.

Bacteria from the gut influence the host micronutrient status.

Micronutrient deficiencies or "hidden hunger" remains a serious public health problem in most low- and middle-income countries, with severe consequences for child development. Traditional methods of treatment and prevention, such as supplementation and fortification, have not always proven to be effective and may have undesirable side-effects (i.e.

Long Term Weight Cycling Affects Fecal Microbiota of Mice.

Scope: Fighting obesity and associated comorbidities through dieting is not always sustained and results in a subsequent weight gain, a phenomenon referred to as weight cycling. Diet is among the most important factors in modifying the composition of gut microbiota. The objective of this work is to determine whether weight cycling affects the composition and the predicted function of mouse fecal bacteria on a long-term basis.

Folate content of a staple food increased by fermentation of a cereal using selected folate-producing microorganisms.

Folate deficiencies are widespread in Africa due to predominantly cereal-based diets. The objective of this work was to test the feasibility of using folate-producing microorganisms to increase folate content of tef , a traditional Ethiopian fermented staple food. To this end, a strain of previously isolated from fermented tef batter and a commercial were used alone and in combination to prepare .

Metabolomics of Rice Bran Differentially Impacted by Fermentation With Six Probiotics Demonstrates Key Nutrient Changes for Enhancing Gut Health.

The consumption of rice bran has been shown to have a positive effect on nutritional status and prevention of chronic diseases related to hundreds of metabolites with bioactivity. Consumption after fermentation can lead to specific beneficial effects, yet is lacking complete characterization when fermented with diverse strains. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of fermentation on the rice bran metabolite profile.

Iron homeostasis in host and gut bacteria - a complex interrelationship.

Iron deficiency is the most frequent nutritional deficiency in the world with an estimated 1.4 billion people affected. The usual way to fight iron deficiency is iron fortification, but this approach is not always effective and can have undesirable side effects including an increase in the growth and virulence of gut bacterial pathogens responsible for diarrhea and gut inflammation.

Iron deficiency and anemia in adolescent girls consuming predominantly plant-based diets in rural Ethiopia.

Rapid physical growth and the onset of menstruation during adolescence can increase the risk of iron deficiency (ID) and related adverse effects. However, little is known about the risk of anemia and ID among adolescent girls in Ethiopia. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence of ID, low iron stores, and anemia and characterize selected risk factors in Huruta, Arsi Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia.

P2R3FA Isolated from Traditional Cereal-Based Fermented Food Increase Folate Status in Deficient Rats.

Folate deficiencies are widespread around the world. Promoting consumption of folate-rich foods could be a sustainable option to alleviate this problem. However, these foods are not always available.

Influence of fermentation and other processing steps on the folate content of a traditional African cereal-based fermented food.

Folate deficiency can cause a number of diseases including neural tube defects and megaloblastic anemia, and still occurs in both developed and developing countries. Cereal-based food products are staple foods in many countries, and may therefore be useful sources of folate. The production of folate by microorganisms has been demonstrated in some cereal-based fermented foods, but has never been studied in a traditional African cereal based food spontaneously fermented.

The genomic and transcriptomic basis of the potential of Lactobacillus plantarum A6 to improve the nutritional quality of a cereal based fermented food.

The objective of this work was to investigate the nutritional potential of Lactobacillus plantarum A6 in a food matrix using next generation sequencing. To this end, we characterized the genome of the A6 strain for a complete overview of its potential. We then compared its transcriptome when grown in a food matrix made from pearl millet to and its transcriptome when cultivated in a laboratory medium.

PCR screening of an African fermented pearl-millet porridge metagenome to investigate the nutritional potential of its microbiota.

Cereals are staple foods in most African countries, and many African cereal-based foods are spontaneously fermented. The nutritional quality of cereal products can be enhanced through fermentation, and traditional cereal-based fermented foods (CBFFs) are possible sources of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with useful nutritional properties. The nutritional properties of LAB vary depending on the species and even on the strain, and the microbial composition of traditional CBFFs varies from one traditional production unit (TPU) to another.

Potential probiotic Pichia kudriavzevii strains and their ability to enhance folate content of traditional cereal-based African fermented food.

With the aim of selecting starter cultures with interesting probiotic potential and with the ability to produce folate in a food matrix, yeast strains isolated from fermented cereal-based African foods were investigated. A total of 93 yeast strains were screened for their tolerance to pH 2 and 0.3% of bile salts.

Lactic acid fermentation as a tool for increasing the folate content of foods.

Folate is an essential micronutrient involved in numerous vital biological reactions. The dietary consumption of naturally occurring vitamin B9 is often inadequate in many countries, and supplementation or fortification programs (using synthetic folic acid) are implemented to alleviate folate deficiency. Other food-based alternatives are possible, such as the use of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to synthesize folate during fermentation.

PCR of crtNM combined with analytical biochemistry: An efficient way to identify carotenoid producing lactic acid bacteria.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) synthesize a wide variety of biochemical compounds during food fermentation. Carotenoids provide important biological functions for bacteria, and their consumption by humans has many beneficial effects. In this study, the presence of several genes involved in the production of carotenoids was determined by BLAST analysis and PCR in a collection of 156 LAB isolated from traditional amylaceous African fermented foods.

Determination of expression and activity of genes involved in starch metabolism in Lactobacillus plantarum A6 during fermentation of a cereal-based gruel.

Traditional fermented gruels prepared from cereals are widely used for complementary feeding of young children in Africa and usually have a low energy density. The amylase activity of some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) helps increase the energy content of gruels through partial hydrolysis of starch, thus enabling the incorporation of more starchy material while conserving the desired semi-liquid consistency for young children. Even if this ability is mainly related to the production of alpha-amylase (E.

Behavior of lactobacilli isolated from fermented slurry (ben-saalga) in gnotobiotic rats.

Most bacterial strains, which have been studied so far for their probiotic functions, are extensively used by manufacturers in developed countries. In our work, we sought to study a mix (called BSL) comprising three strains belonging to Lactobacillus fermentum, L. paraplantarum and L.

Prevalence and fate of Bacillus cereus in African traditional cereal-based foods used as infant foods.

The objective of the present work was to estimate the prevalence of Bacillus cereus group species in traditional cereal-based lactic acid-fermented slurries and nonfermented flours used to prepare infant foods in an African context. High counts on mannitol-egg yolk-polymixin agar medium were determined for the fermented slurries (median, 4.5 × 10(4) CFU/ml of slurry) compared with the nonfermented flours, most of whose counts were lower than 10(-1) CFU/g.

Lactobacillaceae and cell adhesion: genomic and functional screening.

The analysis of collections of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from traditional fermented plant foods in tropical countries may enable the detection of LAB with interesting properties. Binding capacity is often the main criterion used to investigate the probiotic characteristics of bacteria. In this study, we focused on a collection of 163 Lactobacillaceace comprising 156 bacteria isolated from traditional amylaceous fermented foods and seven strains taken from a collection and used as controls.

Genetic screening of functional properties of lactic acid bacteria in a fermented pearl millet slurry and in the metagenome of fermented starchy foods.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (n = 152) in African pearl millet slurries and in the metagenomes of amylaceous fermented foods were investigated by screening 33 genes involved in probiotic and nutritional functions. All isolates belonged to six species of the genera Pediococcus and Lactobacillus, and Lactobacillus fermentum was the dominant species. We screened the isolates for the abilities to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract and to synthesize folate and riboflavin.

Lactobacilli as multifaceted probiotics with poorly disclosed molecular mechanisms.

Lactic acid bacteria and more particularly lactobacilli have been used for the production of fermented foods for centuries. Several lactobacilli have been recognized as probiotics due to their wide range of health-promoting effects in humans. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underpinning their probiotic functions.