Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review
This systematic narrative review aims to catalogue bioactive compounds that are formed during the fermentation process and identified as contributors to positive health outcomes in human clinical studies where fermented foods were used as dietary interventions. Under “The European Cooperation in Sci...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1625816/full |
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| author | İbrahim Ender Künili Vildan Akdeniz Aslı Akpınar Şebnem Öztürkoğlu Budak José Antonio Curiel Mustafa Guzel Cem Karagözlü Muzeyyen Berkel Kasikci Grech Perry Mario Caruana Małgorzata Starowicz Christèle Humblot Erhan Keyvan Christophe Chassard Smilja Pracer Guy Vergères Harun Kesenkaş |
| author_facet | İbrahim Ender Künili Vildan Akdeniz Aslı Akpınar Şebnem Öztürkoğlu Budak José Antonio Curiel Mustafa Guzel Cem Karagözlü Muzeyyen Berkel Kasikci Grech Perry Mario Caruana Małgorzata Starowicz Christèle Humblot Erhan Keyvan Christophe Chassard Smilja Pracer Guy Vergères Harun Kesenkaş |
| author_sort | İbrahim Ender Künili |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This systematic narrative review aims to catalogue bioactive compounds that are formed during the fermentation process and identified as contributors to positive health outcomes in human clinical studies where fermented foods were used as dietary interventions. Under “The European Cooperation in Science and Technology” (COST) Action CA20128 – “Promoting Innovation of Fermented Foods” PIMENTO framework, a systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library. The search initially identified 2,411 studies, of which 50 met the predefined inclusion criteria. In all included studies, fermented foods were used as nutritional interventions, and the bioactive compounds they contained were either hypothesised or directly analysed in relation to statistically significant health effects observed in humans. Findings were summarised in “Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome” (PICO)-structured tables and classified by health domain. The reported effects were grouped under the following categories: cardiovascular health, lipid metabolism, glucose regulation, immune modulation, neuroprotection, liver function, and other health outcomes. Across the included studies, a total of 31 bioactive compounds and/or compound groups were identified in fermented foods, including bioactive peptides, polyphenols (epicatechin, genistein), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), acetic acid, curcumin, and arabinoxylans. The mechanisms of action associated with these compounds were explored in the non-systematic section of the review, supported by findings from in vitro, animal and human studies. By linking individual bioactive compounds derived from fermented foods to clinical outcomes and underlying mechanisms, this review provides a comprehensive and functional resource for nutritional science, fermented food innovation, and public health applications.Systematic review registrationhttps://osf.io/jn8pf/. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9eee2fea431043e1b30bde73c711de79 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-861X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj-art-9eee2fea431043e1b30bde73c711de792025-08-20T03:28:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Nutrition2296-861X2025-07-011210.3389/fnut.2025.16258161625816Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative reviewİbrahim Ender Künili0Vildan Akdeniz1Aslı Akpınar2Şebnem Öztürkoğlu Budak3José Antonio Curiel4Mustafa Guzel5Cem Karagözlü6Muzeyyen Berkel Kasikci7Grech Perry Mario Caruana8Małgorzata Starowicz9Christèle Humblot10Erhan Keyvan11Christophe Chassard12Smilja Pracer13Guy Vergères14Harun Kesenkaş15Department of Fishing and Fish Processing Technology, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, TürkiyeDepartment of Dairy Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ege University, Izmir, TürkiyeDepartment of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Science, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, TürkiyeDepartment of Dairy Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, Ankara, TürkiyeDepartment of Food Technology, National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA-CSIC), Madrid, SpainDepartment of Food Engineering, Hitit University, Corum, TürkiyeDepartment of Dairy Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ege University, Izmir, TürkiyeDepartment of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Science, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, TürkiyeDepartment of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaDepartment of Chemistry and Biodynamics of Food, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, PolandFrench National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Montpellier, France0Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Türkiye1Unité Mixte de recherche sur le Fromage, INRAE, UCA, VetAgro Sup, Aurillac, France2Institute for Biological Research Sinisa Stankovic, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia3Research Division Microbial Food Systems, Agroscope, Berne, SwitzerlandDepartment of Dairy Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ege University, Izmir, TürkiyeThis systematic narrative review aims to catalogue bioactive compounds that are formed during the fermentation process and identified as contributors to positive health outcomes in human clinical studies where fermented foods were used as dietary interventions. Under “The European Cooperation in Science and Technology” (COST) Action CA20128 – “Promoting Innovation of Fermented Foods” PIMENTO framework, a systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library. The search initially identified 2,411 studies, of which 50 met the predefined inclusion criteria. In all included studies, fermented foods were used as nutritional interventions, and the bioactive compounds they contained were either hypothesised or directly analysed in relation to statistically significant health effects observed in humans. Findings were summarised in “Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome” (PICO)-structured tables and classified by health domain. The reported effects were grouped under the following categories: cardiovascular health, lipid metabolism, glucose regulation, immune modulation, neuroprotection, liver function, and other health outcomes. Across the included studies, a total of 31 bioactive compounds and/or compound groups were identified in fermented foods, including bioactive peptides, polyphenols (epicatechin, genistein), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), acetic acid, curcumin, and arabinoxylans. The mechanisms of action associated with these compounds were explored in the non-systematic section of the review, supported by findings from in vitro, animal and human studies. By linking individual bioactive compounds derived from fermented foods to clinical outcomes and underlying mechanisms, this review provides a comprehensive and functional resource for nutritional science, fermented food innovation, and public health applications.Systematic review registrationhttps://osf.io/jn8pf/.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1625816/fullfermented foodsbioactive compoundsfermentationhealth benefitsclinical effectsclinical trials |
| spellingShingle | İbrahim Ender Künili Vildan Akdeniz Aslı Akpınar Şebnem Öztürkoğlu Budak José Antonio Curiel Mustafa Guzel Cem Karagözlü Muzeyyen Berkel Kasikci Grech Perry Mario Caruana Małgorzata Starowicz Christèle Humblot Erhan Keyvan Christophe Chassard Smilja Pracer Guy Vergères Harun Kesenkaş Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review Frontiers in Nutrition fermented foods bioactive compounds fermentation health benefits clinical effects clinical trials |
| title | Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review |
| title_full | Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review |
| title_fullStr | Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review |
| title_short | Bioactive compounds in fermented foods: a systematic narrative review |
| title_sort | bioactive compounds in fermented foods a systematic narrative review |
| topic | fermented foods bioactive compounds fermentation health benefits clinical effects clinical trials |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1625816/full |
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