Jo Webster

Fermented vegetables represent an important focus for research into prevention and amelioration of chronic disease, particularly in light of our growing understanding about the role of gut microbiota in health. Fermented vegetables are tasty, easy to make, cheap and safe, as well as being a fantastic food preservation method. They have enhanced functional and nutritional properties due to the plant nutrients, biochemicals, microbial metabolites and the microbial cell components present in them. Despite all this, and despite ever-increasing media coverage, their consumption remains niche.

Drying and powdering ripe lacto-fermented vegetables and then using them as a condiment or ingredient is a longstanding practice of fermenters. It is an area of fermented foods that I have been exploring for a number of years, now. Two key factors mean, in my mind, this is a vital, exciting and novel area of research. Firstly, live fermenting microbes produce carbon dioxide. This is easily managed when ferments are made in a home setting, but presents a real challenge in commercial production, storage and distribution, where leakage, spillage and even exploding jars are possible. Secondly, increasing research into postbiotics (defined as a preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host) indicates that microbes may not need to be alive to benefit health. Inevitably, a significant proportion of microbes are inactivated as ferments are dried, but if that does not significantly affect their ability to benefit health, whilst making them product, shelf and transport stable, then they hold real potential as a food product worth investigation.

My research explores and compares the nutrient and biochemical profile of fresh and dried ferments at different stages of ferment maturity.