Fermentation legume pulses increase antioxidant and antidiabetic properties, discover the study

Food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana -Champaign identified optimal fermentation conditions for legumes – edible dry seeds of legumes – which have increased their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties and their soluble protein content.

Using the bacteria lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299V as microorganism, the fermented impulses of the team obtained from variable concentrations of black beans, pea with black eyes, green split peas, red lentils and flour of pinto beans. While the results differ between the samples after the fermentation, overall, their antioxidant activity has increased up to 83% and their ability to regulate type 2 diabetes markers increased up to 70%, according to the team. Fermentation has also increased the amount of soluble protein.

“Red lenses and green divided peas have shown the greatest improvements in antioxidant trapping activity and protein solubility,” said Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, professor of food science and the corresponding author of the article. “And they showed the greatest modulation of two enzymes that improve insulin metabolism.”

LP299V is a probiotic strain “containing microorganisms that support intestinal health,” said the first author Andrea Jimena Valdés-Alvarado, a graduate student from Illinois. “After fermentation, it remains in the digestive process. It will not only preserve the fermented product that you consume, it will also produce these peptides or amino acids which are more easily absorbed than the protein intact in the pulses.”

Among other advantages, LP299V reduces inflammation, stimulates immunity and improves the absorption of iron, according to the study, which was co-written by Erick Damián Castañeda-Reyes, then postdoctoral student at Illinois.

Valdés-Alvarado presented some of the conclusions at the American Chemical Society conference held in San Diego, California in April, and it will present the final results of the annual conference of the Institute of Food Technologists, which will be held in Chicago in July.

The team, which published the results of the newspaper Antioxidantssaid there is an urgent need for research on the nutritional properties of plant -based diets and their potential to prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

“Up to 70% of the world’s population proteins are satisfied by plant -based foods,” said Mejia. “Products such as legumes, legumes and cereals attract growing attention as an alternative for animal proteins. And food directives of the American department of agriculture for Americans 2020-2025 suggest the consumption of beans, peas, chickpeas and lenses as part of a healthy diet.”

Dave Luthria, a USDA research chemist, provided the raw samples of the five impulses, and the team used statistical software to find optimal fermentation conditions for each to maximize their antioxidant potential, according to the study.

Valdés-Alvarado said these conditions included different durations, flour concentrations and bacteria strains. “The end products were all very different,” she said. “If you only change these conditions, it will completely change your result.”

After having crushed each of the flour pulses, the team dispersed them in distilled water and agitated in α-amylase, a pancreatic enzyme that breaks down starch into simple sugars and promotes fermentation by providing carbohydrates easily available for bacteria.

For optimization, flour suspensions in water have been pasteurized to reduce indigenous and diluted microorganisms at concentrations of 3% and 9%. The researchers added LP299V to initiate fermentation in the samples of the treatment group, then fermented the sample groups for different durations – 8, 16 or 24 hours.

After incubation, the soluble compounds were extracted and subject to a more in -depth analysis. The team found that the trapping efficiency of each sample – which is important in bodily processes such as blood circulation and inflammation control – increased from 57% to 83%. The trapping activity was the weakest with red lenses, black -eyed peas and pinto beans, and highest with black beans and green peas.

In addition, they found that the concentrations of phenols and bioactive peptides increased. However, the duration of fermentation affected the phenolic composition of red lens samples and has had variable effects on their antioxidant capacity – increasing, decreasing or now stable – depending on the test used, they reported.

Although the amount of soluble proteins has increased significantly in red lenses and green pea after fermentation, it has decreased significantly in black beans and Pinto beans, according to the study.

The researchers also tested the impact on the absorption of glucose cells and enzymes which are crucial in the regulation of blood sugar. As they have the hypothesis, fermentation has reduced the activity of the Dipeptidyl Peptidase -IV – an enzyme that inactive hormones which control blood sugar – from 40% to 70%, and that of α -glucosidase – a digestive enzyme involved in the break of complex carbohydrates – from 30% to 60%.

“These results are important and have the potential to inform continuous work on fermentation and strategies to improve the functional properties of favorable health foods,” said Mejia. “These impulses contain between 18% and 25% of good quality proteins which can be used alone or as ingredients in other food products. We must find adequate treatment conditions and motivate the food industry to use them in dairy drinks or meat substitutes.”

In addition, from Mejia said it was essential to explore the sustainability of plant diets in light of the global problems of food insecurity, shortages of natural resources and climate change. Legumes used in the study could become important crops for Illinois agriculture producers or the food industry in the future, she said.