Traditionally produced tempeh harbors more diverse bacteria with more putative health-promoting properties than industrially produced tempeh.

In recent years, there has been a significant shift towards industrialization in food production, resulting in the implementation of higher hygiene standards globally. Our study focused on examining the impact of hygiene standards on tempeh, a popular Rhizopus-based fermented soybean product native to Indonesia, and now famous around the world. We observed that tempeh produced with standardized hygiene measures exhibited a microbiome with comparable bacterial abundances but a markedly different community structure and function than traditionally produced tempeh.

The terroir of Tempeh: Strong region-specific signatures in the bacterial community structures across Indonesia.

Tempeh, a soybean product from Indonesia, is created through fermentation by spp. and associated bacteria. Here, we aim to get an overview of the variability of the tempeh microbiota across Indonesia and disentangle influencing factors.