Role of lacto-fermentation in reduction of antinutrients in plant-based foods

Abstract

Plant-based food products are gaining more importance and they play an important role in maintaining sustainable, low-meat, and healthy diets. Plant-based food products, specifically legumes and cereals, are important staple foods in developing countries. However, it is important to know whether these plant-based systems are capable of delivering the minerals and is it beneficial to motivate consumption to decrease the manifestation of mineral deficiencies. Plantbased foods apart from containing a large number of macronutrients and micronutrients they also possess various antinutritional factors. Some of the major anti-nutritional components present in plants are saponins, tannins, phytic acid, lectins, protease inhibitors, and amylase inhibitors. Such kind interactions with minerals interfere in bioavailability from plant-based foods throughout the course of human digestion and lead to micronutrient malnutrition and mineral deficiencies. Lacto-fermentation is commonly used to disrupt such interactions and make nutrients and phytochemicals free and accessible to the consumers. The purpose of this review was to provide information about the different types of antinutrients present in plant sources, their possible effects on the human body, and the benefits of lacto-fermentation over other conventional food processing approaches such as soaking, germination, and heating in the reduction of antinutrients.