Fermented foods

[scbrinkley]

Hello FoodOn, I'm finding some missing fermented foods. When I query fermented, I would expect to find cheese, chocolate, coffee, all products of fermentation, with a fermented designation. Whether the foods are a multi-component food product or food product by process, food (fermented) does not contain any of the above food. Though I do see some annotations under certain fermentation products, take romano cheese (pecorino-style) (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/FOODON_03305231) for example, there is an annotation:

http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#comment: SIREN DB annotation: solid FOODON:03430151 curd FOODON:03420245 * lactic acid-other agent fermentation process FOODON:03460107

Does this indicate a mapping of all products of fermentation is underway?

[maweber-bia]

The process of fermentation encompasses the biochemical activity of organisms throughout their life cycle, from growth to death. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10991178/

[ddooley]

Discussed on Nov 14th call. Action items:

• "food fermentation" needs its definition cleaned up: "A fermentation process in which either carbohydrates, proteins or fats are modified through microbial, enzymatic and/or other biological process."

  Proposed revision: "A microbial/enzymatic modification process in which either carbohydrates, proteins or fats are modified through a microbial metabolic process."

• "microbial/enzymatic modification process" needs a label tweak: " a microbial or enzymatic modification process".

It appears not all "cheese" is fermented, e.g. "farmers cheese", Paneer - acid coagulated milk cheese. Determine if curds is a pre-fermented stage?

Looks like we need two top level cheese classes:

• Fermented cheese: (necessarily aged?)
• Non-fermented cheese: (is a subclass of unripened cheese?)

@maweber-bia Work will be done on a new Fermentation tab of FoodOn Robot Tables

Papers:

An overview of fermentation in the food industry - looking back from a new perspective The periodic table of fermented foods: limitations and opportunities

Task can encompass ensuring a good organization for all fermented foods in FoodOn.

[scbrinkley]

From Sandor Katz, the Art of Fermentation:

[...] fermentation is the transformation of food by various bacteria, fungi, and the enzymes they produce.

Although I would argue it is the bacteria and/ or fungi (and/or other micro-organisms) and the enzymes they produce.

Formally, biologists describe fermentation as anaerobic redox metabolism (or the production of energy in absence of oxygen), but I don't think that's what we are going for here.

To comment on the part about "carbohydrates, proteins or fats", those aren't the only compound classes transformed in fermentation. Think: flavor and aroma compounds (McFeeters, 2004).

Katz, S.E., 2012. The art of fermentation: an in-depth exploration of essential concepts and processes from around the world. Chelsea green publishing.

Mcfeeters RF. Fermentation Microorganisms and Flavor Changes in Fermented Foods. Journal of Food Science (2004) 69: doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2004.tb17876.x