Abstract
Plant-based foods are rich sources of vitamins and essential micronutrients. For the proper functioning of the human body and their crucial role, trace minerals (iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, etc.) are required in appropriate amounts. Cereals and pulses are the chief sources of these trace minerals. Despite these minerals, adequate consumption of plant foods cannot fulfill the human body’s total nutrient requirement. Plant foods also contain ample amounts of anti-nutritional factors such as phytate, tannins, phenols, oxalates, etc. These factors can compromise the bioavailability of several essential micronutrients in plant foods. However, literature reports show that fermentation and related processing methods can improve nutrient and mineral bioavailability of plant foods. In this review, studies related to fermentation methods that can be used to improve micronutrient bioavailability in plant foods are discussed.
Highlights
Health in general depends on food intake that meets the nutritional needs of consumers
A recent research study reported the impacts of fermentation on the bioavailability of Zn in hydrothermally treated, malted and native finger millet seeds
People all over the world are facing mineral deficiency concerns, especially in developing countries. This is because people consume ample amounts of cereals and pulses in their diets, and these plant foods are rich sources of minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, etc
Summary
Health in general depends on food intake that meets the nutritional needs of consumers. Due to lack of proper nutrition, macronutrients and micronutrient deficiency occurs leading to undernutrition Excessive intake of these macro/ micronutrients result in overnutrition leading to obesity and associated metabolic disorders [3]. Fermentation improves the mineral bioavailability by producing a phytase enzyme that degrades the phytic acids in plant foods. Such a phytic acid reduction may enhance the level of calcium, iron and zinc several-fold [23]. We emphasize the fermentation used to improve the bioavailability of minerals that could be further utilized to enhance the level of micronutrients in plant-based foods alleviating micronutrient deficiency
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