EU project will make our diet more sustainable

HealthFerm is a European research project investigating innovative pulse and cereal-based food fermentations together with the health effects and consumer perception of novel fermented foods. SLU is represented in this project by Prof Maud Langton, Prof Volkmar Passoth, Assoc. Prof Galia Zamaratskaia, postdoctoral research fellow Anja Herneke and PhD student Alejandra Castaneda.

Alejandra started her PhD studies in January 2023, and only after half a year on the project, she received very promising results in the development of tempeh from Nordic raw materials. These results were recently presented at the second HealthFerm Consortium Meeting in Zurich and attracted a lot of attention.

“Faba beans have the potential to serve as the primary raw material to produce nutritious, sustainable, and flavorful foods by fermentation. So far, we tested several microbial consortia, and some of them are suitable for solid-state fermentation in food prototypes, such as tempeh. The next step is to investigate the impact of fermentation conditions on structural, rheological, and molecular properties of the final product”, explained Alejandra.

The first prototype of tempeh from Nordic raw material, developed by Alejandra, has excellent sensory attributes, according to Prof Kati Katina from the University of Helsinki, who leads the work package entitled “Fermentation technology for healthy, tasty, safe and sustainable plant-based foods.”

“The inclusion of tempeh from locally produced raw material can be a healthful and sustainable choice”, added Anja Herneke.

See the video below for an interview with Alejandra!