Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?

Fermented vegetables contain probiotic microbes and metabolites, which are transformed from fresh vegetables, potentially providing health benefits. The kind of vegetable used to ferment and how it is grown may determine the types of health-promoting properties. To understand the possible benefits o...

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Main Authors: Kylene Guse, Qingqing Mao, Chi Chen, Andres Gomez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Fermentation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/11/1/22
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author Kylene Guse
Qingqing Mao
Chi Chen
Andres Gomez
author_facet Kylene Guse
Qingqing Mao
Chi Chen
Andres Gomez
author_sort Kylene Guse
collection DOAJ
description Fermented vegetables contain probiotic microbes and metabolites, which are transformed from fresh vegetables, potentially providing health benefits. The kind of vegetable used to ferment and how it is grown may determine the types of health-promoting properties. To understand the possible benefits of fermented vegetables under different growing conditions, we compared the microbiomes and metabolomes of three different types of naturally fermented vegetables—carrots, peppers, and radishes—that were grown either under conventional or regenerative growing systems. We profiled bacterial and fungal communities via 16S rRNA short-read (V4 region), long-read, and ITS2 sequencing, in tandem with untargeted metabolomics (LC-MS). The results showed that the microbiomes and metabolomes of the fermented vegetables under each growing system are unique, highlighting distinctions in amino acid content and potentially probiotic microbes (<i>p</i> < 0.05). All fermented vegetables contained high amounts of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a critical neurotransmitter. However, GABA was found to be in higher abundance in the regenerative fermented vegetables, particularly in carrots (<i>p</i> < 0.01) and peppers (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and was associated with higher abundances of the typically probiotic <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i>. Our findings indicate that the growing system may impact the microbiome and metabolome of plant-based ferments, encouraging more research on the health-boosting potential of regeneratively grown vegetables.
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spelling doaj-art-73f36ee80ff84071b7261efcb5d88aca2025-01-24T13:32:05ZengMDPI AGFermentation2311-56372025-01-011112210.3390/fermentation11010022Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?Kylene Guse0Qingqing Mao1Chi Chen2Andres Gomez3Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USADepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USADepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USADepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USAFermented vegetables contain probiotic microbes and metabolites, which are transformed from fresh vegetables, potentially providing health benefits. The kind of vegetable used to ferment and how it is grown may determine the types of health-promoting properties. To understand the possible benefits of fermented vegetables under different growing conditions, we compared the microbiomes and metabolomes of three different types of naturally fermented vegetables—carrots, peppers, and radishes—that were grown either under conventional or regenerative growing systems. We profiled bacterial and fungal communities via 16S rRNA short-read (V4 region), long-read, and ITS2 sequencing, in tandem with untargeted metabolomics (LC-MS). The results showed that the microbiomes and metabolomes of the fermented vegetables under each growing system are unique, highlighting distinctions in amino acid content and potentially probiotic microbes (<i>p</i> < 0.05). All fermented vegetables contained high amounts of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a critical neurotransmitter. However, GABA was found to be in higher abundance in the regenerative fermented vegetables, particularly in carrots (<i>p</i> < 0.01) and peppers (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and was associated with higher abundances of the typically probiotic <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i>. Our findings indicate that the growing system may impact the microbiome and metabolome of plant-based ferments, encouraging more research on the health-boosting potential of regeneratively grown vegetables.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/11/1/22fermented vegetablesmicrobiomemetabolomeregenerative agricultureconventional agricultureGABA
spellingShingle Kylene Guse
Qingqing Mao
Chi Chen
Andres Gomez
Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?
Fermentation
fermented vegetables
microbiome
metabolome
regenerative agriculture
conventional agriculture
GABA
title Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?
title_full Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?
title_fullStr Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?
title_full_unstemmed Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?
title_short Meta-Omics Analyses of Conventional and Regenerative Fermented Vegetables: Is There an Impact on Health-Boosting Potential?
title_sort meta omics analyses of conventional and regenerative fermented vegetables is there an impact on health boosting potential
topic fermented vegetables
microbiome
metabolome
regenerative agriculture
conventional agriculture
GABA
url https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/11/1/22
work_keys_str_mv AT kyleneguse metaomicsanalysesofconventionalandregenerativefermentedvegetablesisthereanimpactonhealthboostingpotential
AT qingqingmao metaomicsanalysesofconventionalandregenerativefermentedvegetablesisthereanimpactonhealthboostingpotential
AT chichen metaomicsanalysesofconventionalandregenerativefermentedvegetablesisthereanimpactonhealthboostingpotential
AT andresgomez metaomicsanalysesofconventionalandregenerativefermentedvegetablesisthereanimpactonhealthboostingpotential