Fermented Foods: A Future Reliable Source of Vitamin B12?
Microbial cell tiny factories: how bacteria co-cultures cooperate to produce B12 in fermented sunflower seed milk.
Takeaways
Fermentation can enhance the nutritional profile of products
There is a research buzz on enriching food products with B12 thanks to in situ fermentation
Co-cultures of two bacterial strains upgrade sunflower seed milk to high levels of vitamin B12
In the future, various B12-fortified fermented products will become available
🧐 In last week’s newsletter, we delved into the world of vitamin B12. We learned that one of the critical nutritional challenges of plant-based products is the absence of B12 (cobalamin). Supplementation is essential in the dietary routines of vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians. If you missed the article, you can catch up on the topic here: Balancing Act: Maintaining Optimal Vitamin B12 Across Dietary Patterns.
🧫 In nature, microbes are the relentless producers of vitamin B12, a crucial nutrient for neurodevelopment and cell division in humans. A question that has lingered in my head since last week (and was brought up by a reader): why can’t we get B12 directly from fermented products instead of supplements? After all, sophisticated bacterial interactions occur during these products' maturation, and one could expect B12 production by the microbial community. Well, technically, it is possible. However, the right bacteria — only a few have been detected as capable of B12 synthesis up to today— must be present in the food matrix along with the suitable substrate (substances that will feed these bacteria and support the B12 chemical pathways) to make the magic happen. Shazam!
🤓 Interesting, isn’t it? Let’s get more granular.
Co-cultures of Propionibacterium freudenreichii and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens cooperatively upgrade sunflower seed milk to high levels of vitamin B12 and multiple co-benefits.1
Fermentation wonders
💡 Various research papers have explored the production of vitamin B12 through microbial fermentation, a fascinating process that involves more than 30 biotransformation steps. Due to its complex structure and intricate biosynthesis, B12 is primarily obtained through fermentation with two microorganisms at the forefront, Propionibacterium freudenreichii and Pseudomonas denitrificans.2
⚗️ In the context of fundamental research, lab-scale fermentations are run to understand the best conditions and substrates for obtaining B12. This means researchers will add a bacterial strain and other substances necessary to produce B12 under controlled conditions in a fermenter. The aim here is often to increase the productivity of the available strains, which is currently low, but the market requirement is vast as they are used most as supplements in the feed and food industries.
🤔 Alright, this sounds cool, but we were first interested in fermented foods, not fundamental research. How do we get B12-rich fermented foods?
The plant-based milk example
👨🏼🎓 The Wittmann research group at the University of Saarbrücken (Germany) is paving the way for the production of nutritious vegetable milk— or a white beverage for those who are opposed to the word vegetable milk. The team worked on reutilizing the residuals from sunflower oil manufacturing, the seed cakes, to produce plant-based milk with high levels of vitamin B12 and multiple co-benefits. The co-culture fermentation process used two food-grade microbes, Propionibacterium freudenreichii and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
The beauty of the study?
Utilization of food waste and microbial cooperation to create a beverage with a rich spectrum of benefits.
When combined, the two bacteria could use their genetic potential and metabolic signatures to boost B12 production in situ.
Such knowledge is valuable for the future development of other plant-based milks or even other products. Would you be interested in the main research outcomes? Here you go:
😲 According to the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), the recommended daily intake (RDA) for vitamin B12 is 4 μg/day. A single daily serving of 100 mL of the fermented sunflower seed milk mentioned above would deliver up to four times EFSA’s RDA level.
⏳ Another impressive factoid is that Propionibacterium synthesizes up to 100 molecules of B12 per second, showcasing remarkable synthetic power given the vitamin's complexity.
💚 Other research groups are working on similar fronts. The aforementioned scientific paper carried me away because it allows for the valorization of agricultural waste. Beyond this fact, cost-effective fermentations at an industrial scale may soon lead to the production of stable and easily deliverable foods, potentially addressing deficiencies in macro and micronutrients. It is, with no doubt, a promising alternative to animal-derived foods.
⁉️ Would it be possible to drop supplementation one day? Wait and see. Go, science.
Adventuring myself with home fermentation
😅 Let me admit out loud that I am terrible at keeping my culture starters healthy at home. I started making my own kombucha earlier this year but dropped it after some time due to travels and whatever other excuse. A few years ago, I considered getting a friend’s sourdough starter but dropped the idea quickly after the proposition as I thought I wouldn’t be capable of fully committing to the mission— and killing my friend’s lovely invisible community of dwellers wasn’t an option… Phew, luckily, I was 1000% more committed during my PhD on encapsulation of probiotics. In French we say, les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés, which translates to ‘the cobbler always wears the worst shoes’… I get it now.
🧋The irony is that I buy all sorts of fermented products, from beverages to tempeh, sauerkraut, and cocoa beans. Perhaps I need motivation to pick up the hobby.
📚 Another day, I came across a list of books from @Julia Skinner, who writes Preserving Abundance in Substack (here is the list). Have you heard about any of them? Do you have any advice on where to start? Send over your sparkle.
🤸♀️Until next week, invite fermented products into your fridge.
Xoxo,
Fernanda
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Do you want to know why B12 does not exist in Nature or in any plant foods that all the other B-complex vitamins are abundantly found in? Because B12 is a man-made invention made in a DRUG LAB out of synthetic garbage like coal tar and sewage sludge, and a cyanide molecule. It was first patented by Merck Pharmaceuticals and was made out of bacteria from raw cow's liver -- does that tell you anything?
Don't confuse the natural cyanoBACTERIA found on the roots of plants like legumes with the man-made toxin cyanoCOBALAMIN (Cyanide Vitamin).
Can make my own B12 at home with fermentation or does it always have to be very technical ?