FermaPro® and Custom Fermentation

RFI is proud to now offer the FermaPro® line of fermented ingredients using state-of-the-art fermentation in our Colorado facility. Our process can ferment any dry material such as grains, grasses, seeds, vegetables and fruits using a variety of health-promoting bacterial or yeast cultures. The resulting fermented material is then drum-dried and milled in the same facility.

The process of fermenting foods - both for preservation and to make them more digestible and nutritious - has been around since ancient times. Many cultures still eat fermented foods, such as Japanese miso, tempeh, or Korean kimchi, but unfortunately, fermented foods have largely disappeared from the Western diet.

Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids, such as lactic acid, using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions.

From a health standpoint, fermented foods have numerous benefits:

• Makes many complex foods more digestible by breaking them down into readily digestible amino acids and simpler sugars.
  
  
• Introduces helpful probiotics into our GI tract such as lactic acid bacteria.
  1. Improves nutrient absorption from food
  2. Balances microflora for optimal digestion
  3. Improves digestion of lactose
  4. Supports healthy cholesterol levels
  5. Production of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids
  6. Neutralizes phytic acid, a plant compound found in grains that blocks absorption of minerals.

These benefits may result from growth and action of the bacteria during the manufacture of cultured foods or from growth and action of certain species of the lactic acid bacteria in the intestinal tract following ingestion of foods containing them.

An example of how fermentation improves digestibility is the fermentation of cereal grasses. While ruminant animals such as cows and horses have a separate gut compartment filled with lactic acid microorganisms to digest the cellulose, humans cannot digest cellulose. Fermenting cereal grasses with lactic acid microorganisms may help break down cereal grasses and make them more digestible.

The FermaPro® line includes the following ingredients:

• Fermented greens
• Fermented fruits
• Fermented spices
• Fermented mushrooms
• Fermented seeds
• Fermented botanical extracts

In addition, we offer custom fermentation of any dry material such as grains, grasses, seeds, vegetables and fruits.