B-vitamin production
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Food fermentation
NIZO food research has introduced a new approach to food-fortification based on fermentation. Many food grade bacteria used in food fermentation have the capacity to synthesize important B-vitamins like B2 (riboflavin), B11 (folate) and B12 (cobalamin).
B-vitamin deficiency
The number of elderly individuals is growing rapidly in our society and degenerative diseases constitute an increasing problem in terms of both public health and cost. Intensive research during the last decade on ageing shows that B-vitamin insufficiency is a key risk factor in the development of vascular and neurological diseases and cancers.
Data from epidemiological studies indicate that subclinical deficiency in most water-soluble B vitamins may occur gradually during ageing, possibly due to environmental, metabolic, genetic, nutritional and pathological determinants, as well as to lifestyle, gender and drug consumption. In addition, older individuals have distinct absorption, cell transport and metabolism characteristics that may alter B vitamin bioavailability.
Natural enrichment
Using high throughput screening and selection procedures, food grade fermentative bacteria can be obtained which have a high natural capacity to produce B-vitamins. This allows the selection of specific combinations of starter – and adjunct cultures to produce fermented food products which are enriched with B-vitamins in a natural way. Given specific strains with the correct technical properties for a fermentation process, NIZO can apply non-GMO techniques to improve the vitamin production capacity of such a strain.