Fourth scientific meeting of ANR metasimfood project in Rennes

Published: Dec 12, 2023 by FME Lab

This time, the 7 partners gathered in Rennes this Tuesday 12th of December and were hosted by STLO at the Institut Agro.

After two years dedicated to prepare the food models for synthetic ecology (Wine and fermented vegetables), the project is now entering into the most exiting (but challenging) part dedicated to the screening of environmental factors and the design of microbial consortia. The project is now ready for integrating many omics data for ecological network modelling. Thanks to Florence Valence for hosting us and for managing the nice diner at crêperie l’épi de blé. We had lively discussions following the presentation of Elham Karimi on genome-scale modelling, minimal community design, key species, and the presentation of Mahendra Maraidassou on fractional factorial design and response surface modelling. The metasimfood project is truly inter-disciplinary, and is taking our teams into a new era of food microbiology.

From food spontaneous fermentations to food designed consortia

Our new article entitled “Microbiome metabolic modeling as a tool for innovation in fermented foods” has been published in in Current Opinion of Food Science¹.

Elham Karimi, Julien Tap, Marie-Christine Champomier-Vergès, Stéphane Chaillou. Microbiome metabolic modeling as a tool for innovation in fermented foods. Current Opinion of Food Science. 2025 ↩

The FME lab communicates about the links between the microbiome, nutrition and health.

On Thursday 27 November, the FME lab took part in the Food System Microbiomes Conference in Wageningen during the session dedicated to the connections between microbiomes, nutrition and health. The session was co-chaired by Stéphane Chaillou (INRAE, Micalis) and Prof. Christophe Courtin (KU Leuven), and provided an opportunity to showcase advances from two major European projects: DOMINO and HealthFerm.

Understanding How Fermented Foods Shape Health Insights From a New PIMENTO Review

A new scoping review published in Frontiers in Nutrition¹ as part of the COST Action PIMENTO initiative provides a comprehensive assessment of what is currently known about the health effects of fermented foods in specific human populations. This work reflects a substantial collective effort. We conducted an extensive and rigorous screening of the scientific literature, reviewing and selecting studies across many categories of fermented foods and health outcomes.

Humblot Christèle, Alvanoudi Panagiota, Alves Emilia, Assunçao Ricardo, Belovic Miona, Bulmus-Tuccar Tugce, Chassard Christophe, Derrien Muriel, Karagöz Mustafa Fevzi, Karakaya Sibel, Laranjo Marta, Mantzouridou Fani Th, Rosado Catarina, Pracer Smilja, Saar Helen, Tap Julien, Treven Primož, Vergères Guy, Pertziger Eugenia, Savary-Auzeloux Isabelle, A scoping review of the health effects of fermented foods in specific human populations and their potential role in precision nutrition: current knowledge and gaps. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2025 doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1650633 ↩