Insights from Metabolomics and Fermented Foods 2024

Published: Feb 29, 2024 by FME Lab

The recent ‘Metabolomics and Fermented Foods’ seminar organized by the Netherland Metabolomic Centre and held at the Danone Nutricia Global Research & Innovation Center in Utrecht was a melting pot of groundbreaking ideas and discussions, delving deep into the intricate relationship between metabolomics, fermented foods, and gut health. Esteemed experts like Paul Cotter, Guus Roeselers, Barbara Koroušić Seljak, and others shared their invaluable insights, providing attendees with a comprehensive understanding of this dynamic field.

Julien shed light on the critical role of the gut microbiome in human health. He emphasized that while diet and lifestyle are significant, the resilience of the microbiome is pivotal in maintaining its structure over a person’s lifetime. His research, involving the analysis of 35,000 human gut microbiome samples, revealed that the microbiome operates in a branching structure, influencing the dynamic interplay between different states.

Julien underscore how effect fermented foods in promoting gut health might depend on gut microbiome states. In addition, using preliminary data from SynthPlex and MetaSimFood, he showed that the interaction between the strains in fermented foods and the metabolites in the food matrix is complex, suggesting that the potential benefits of fermented foods require further exploration.

Slides from Julien’s talk are available here: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04489205

Consumers at the core of fermented food innovation

Yesterday on September 23rd, about 100 participants from academia, industry, NGOs and policy makers across Europe had joined the second Stakeholder Forum of Horizon Europe #DominoEU project. Four speakers Pr. Jutta Roosen from the Technical Universty of Munich, Dr. Emmanuella Magriplis associate professor from the Agricultural University of Athens, Dr. Michail Syrpas associate professor at Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania and Dr. Nikoletta Vidra Science Manager at Yakult Europe altogether spotlighted the central role of consumer research in advancing the field of fermented foods.

The French Gut at EMBL Human Microbiome Symposium 2025

The relationship between diet and the gut microbiome lies at the heart of both health and sustainability challenges. Understanding how dietary habits shape microbial diversity is key to developing new strategies for precision nutrition.

Focus on Microbial Ecology Modelling at the NEM days meeting in Rennes

The French NEM (Nutrition & Microbial Ecosystems) network hold its annual meeting this last two days (5th – 6th of May) in Rennes. Julien Tap, researcher from the FME lab presented the first results of his Ferment du Future SynthPlex project and how Engineering food microbial consortia can be performed using microfermentors to reveal strain epistasis. With the Support of Holoflux and Digit-Bio INRAE Metaprogram, He also co-organized with Guillaume Gautreau from the MaIAge Unit a specific workshop on modelling of microbial ecosystems.