Bakers have been making sourdough bread for thousands of years. However, during the pandemic, it seems like everyone and their mother has rediscovered this delicious baking staple. And scientists are also benefiting from this newfound appreciation for this old-school classic.
Professor Christophe Courtin, a food biochemist at KU Leuven in Belgium, shared with JSTOR Daily that he is leading a team of food experts from across Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, and Switzerland, to assemble an “army of home bakers” to study microbes and traditional fermented foods as part of their HealthFerm project.
According to JSTOR, the group’s goal is to collect samples and microbial data to develop new plant-based fermented foods that will enhance human health and the well-being of the planet. They will do this by inviting citizens across the continent to donate their starter (an essential flour and water mixture that serves as a fermentation base and is then used to help bread rise) to the cause.
The good news is that they’re already off to a great start, having collected more than 800 samples so far.
“The samples came from all over Europe,” Professor Nicholas Bokulich, a microbiologist at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, told JSTOR. The team added that the volunteer bakers were also busy testing the acidity of their home starters and providing detailed insights into how to preserve the mother dough.
Indeed, it’s a very important job. Fermented foods have long been thought to have health benefits, including enhancing the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals in food. One study suggests that fermented foods can even improve sleep, while another suggests that fermented foods can help prevent depression. However, as JSTOR observes, there is a lack of more comprehensive data in this area, which makes this study, and the volunteers who participated, even more important.
“We know that if these fatty acids are produced in the colon, then they are good for us,” Professor Kurtan added. “But what we don’t know is whether these fatty acids are equally good if they are produced in food.”
The scientists didn’t stop at collecting samples, however. As explained on the study’s website, they will also test how these foods interact with the human microbiome. So they added five human intervention studies that included hypothesis-driven and exploratory approaches to better understand their impact on human health.
Participants in this study will eat either a mix of fermented foods or specific foods, and then have their blood and stool samples tested to see the effects. Honestly, if the researchers wanted participants to eat a bunch of bread and pickles, many of Food & Wine’s authors and editors would be willing to volunteer as contributors.
Related topics: