Probitat fermentation technology

Malnutrition is a global problem and affects people in every country. Malnutrition covers both, undernutrition in all forms, but also overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Around 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight, while 462 million are underweight. There is a need to reformulate foods to supply the adequate nutrition balance to fight against malnutrition.

We have developed a probiotic fermented quinoa dough that can be used in different food applications; from breakfast porridge, drinks, and plant-based yogurts to even baked products. Fermentation preserves and inhibits spoilage organism and consequently increases the shelf-life of the final product. Fermentation can also enhance the nutritional quality of food by increasing the bio-availability of proteins, vitamins and minerals. When fermentation is done with probiotic bacteria, the products have an effect in consumers gut health by helping to absorb better the nutrients and other health benefits.

Malnutrition is a global problem and affects people in every country. Malnutrition covers both, undernutrition, including stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals), but also overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer).

Around 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight, while 462 million are underweight. An estimated 41 million children under the age of 5 years are overweight or obese, while some 159 million are stunted and 50 million are wasted. Adding to this burden are the 528 million or 29% of women of reproductive age around the world affected by anaemia, for which approximately half would be amenable to iron supplementation (WHO, 2016).

Many families cannot afford or access enough nutritious foods while foods and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt are cheaper and more readily available, leading to a rapid rise in the number of children and adults who are overweight and obese, in poor as well as rich countries.

We have developed a probiotic fermented quinoa dough that can be used in different food applications; from breakfast porridge, drinks, and plant-based yogurts to even baked products. Quinoa is an ancient grain crop originated from the Andean region of South America. However, quinoa can be cultivated in cold, highland climates, as well as in subtropical conditions; and from sea level, to above 4000 m of altitude. Quinoa grains are highly nutritious having exceptional protein quality and a wide range of vitamins and minerals. Due to the high nutritional value, good agro-ecological adaptability and low water requirements, quinoa has been considered the grain of the future to improve food nutrition and to increase food security and farmer’s income.  

Fermentation is one of the oldest food processing techniques where foods and drinks go through a chemical change caused by bacteria and yeasts. Fermentation preserves and inhibits spoilage organism and increases the shelf-life of the final product. Fermentation can also enhance the nutritional quality of food by producing beneficial compounds such as vitamins, and by increasing the bio-availability of minerals. When fermentation is done with probiotic bacteria, the products have an effect in consumers gut health by helping to absorb better the nutrients.

Malnutrition is a broad and global problem and our solution can be adapted and used in all ranges of malnutrition. Therefore, our solution is targeting populations from all socio-economic groups.

Undernutrition (stunting, wasting, underweight) – Low socio-economic groups

Our probiotic fermented quinoa dough could be used as, for example, breakfast porridge to offer at schools, community centers, shelters, etc. The basic quinoa breakfast porridge can be done with regular kitchen equipment. Fermentation only requires adding the bacteria and letting them ferment overnight. This porridge will offer a high nutritious meal with plenty of good quality protein, minerals and vitamins and good bacteria to boost immunity.

Overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases & micronutrient malnutrition – Low, medium, and high socio-economic group

Products like fermented quinoa breads and pasta, quinoa-based porridges, milks and yogurts or even high nutritious smoothies, are products that could offer much nutritious alternatives to the high in sugars and fats, but low in proteins, vitamins and minerals products they usually consumed. Production of those products is relatively easy and adaptable to the different situations; from cooked at schools, community centers, etc. to sold in supermarkets and produced by subcontracting or partnering with food industry.

Our solution will provide highly nutritious food products with minimal environment impact that will target malnutrition globally. Our food products can support small, medium, or even large-scale producers with access to our technology and knowledge to improve their nutritious food offerings while using sustainable production. Our fermented quinoa products can also stimulate farmers to start quinoa cultivation which might be more land efficient and decrease carbon emissions. Finally, fermentation with our bacteria can also be used in any plant-based material, for example, food waste, to improve its usability.

Our innovation is a combination of our bacteria and the knowledge of how to use them to create highly nutritious food products. We are specialized in plant-based bacteria that can be used for fermenting highly nutritious raw materials, like quinoa, which is one of the most suitable grains to decrease carbon emissions and increase nutrition value of a food product, compared to meat.

We have a list of own bacteria and a list of tasty products we have developed with these bacteria that perfectly fits the demands of sustainable development goals and this sustainable food system challenge.

Food industry has been so far focused on fermenting dairy products, which require bacteria that are relatively simple and ferment mainly lactose. Plant-based bacteria are more sophisticated and can use many different sugars and thus, makes these fermentations more complex than dairy ones. We are a research-based startup, with 18 year of experience in plant-based bacteria, and this is the advantage we have over our competitors.

Our technology is based on our bacterial strains (isolated and studied by us) and the knowledge on how to create different tasty, plant-based, nutritious foods. For each product, we use some bacteria for a different purpose. For example:

• For our plant-based drinks, smoothies, yogurts and porridge, the bacteria we use, when fermenting, increases the nutritional value of the already high nutritious raw materials, increases the shelf-life and their safety. Because one of the bacterium is a probiotic, it can balance consumer’s gut microbiota by decreasing the “bad” bacteria and increasing the “good” bacteria. All these effects have been scientifically proven.
• For baked products, which are all gluten-free, the bacteria increase the nutritional value, improve the shelf-life, and help to have a “normal” bread consistency (nice crust and tenderness inside). Because they are quinoa based, products have a very nice flavor compared to the gluten-free ones in the market.

By fermenting, the products also have a lower glycemic index, allowing the sugars to be digested more slowly. This helps consumers keep satisfied longer and thus, target the overweight and obese population.

We have published some results concerning the application of our bacterial strains in product development, and we have a lot more data unpublished to prove that. For example:

• Application of our strains in the development of quinoa-based beverages (https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.436).
• The potential probiotic properties of bacterial isolates (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2016.03.046).
• Characterization of bacterial strains to be used in plant-based fermentations (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2015.10.045).
• The use of a probiotic fermented quinoa-based smoothie to balance consumers gut microbiota (unpublished).
• Increased nutritional content of fermented quinoa-based food products (unpublished).
• Development of gluten-free fermented quinoa breads (unpublished).
• Application of our strains in increasing the shelf-life of breads (unpublished).

We have a patent pending on the process of manufacturing fermented quinoa-based products and a patent application of the use of our plant-based probiotic bacteria in foods. Because of these patents, most of our research is, at the moment, unpublished.

We have also done numerous consumer research studies on the acceptability of our products and we have one fermented quinoa-based smoothie in the supermarkets in Finland. We sold almost 50 000 bottles in just three months.

Inputs:

• Join already stablished nutrition programs from UNICEF or similar.
• Probitat’s man-hours.
• Additional investments (grants or other type of funding).

Activities:

• Training and information on nutrition benefits, including quinoa nutritional benefits.
• Innovative workshops on quinoa uses, fermentation, product development.
• Innovative workshops and training in entrepreneurship for fermented quinoa-based products to help them build their own sustainable and profitable business.
• If the program is in rural areas, workshops and training in quinoa cultivation should be included.

Output:

• Nutritious food products to help fight malnutrition for families from either urban or rural communities, especially women and their children.

Outcome:

• Short-term:
  • Knowledge in nutrition benefits and the use of quinoa for better nutrition.
  • Knowledge in new technologies which they can use for creating a sustainable business.
  • In rural areas, sustainable production of nutritious grains and increasing farmers jobs and income.
• Medium-term:
  • Increased understanding on the importance of nutrients, where they are and how to get them.
• Long-term:
  • Better and more sustainable agriculture (in rural areas)
  • Better nutrition conditions.

Impact: Families, especially women in all reproductive stages and their children, have access to highly nutritious foods to enable them to fight against malnutrition.

So far, our solution has only been used to make the proof-of-concept in Finnish supermarkets. For that, we are selling a fermented quinoa-based smoothie in the supermarkets. We have a B2B licensing business model and we are so far only presenting our products to the food industry and starting some negotiations.

In one year, we expect to have some of our products sold by global food industry such as Oatly, Arla foods, Alpro or even Danone or Nestlé.

However, our ultimate goal in about 5 years (or maybe earlier with programs like this MIT SOLVE) is to make our products reach the more in need and fight global malnutrition. For this, we would like to join already established nutrition programs like in UNICEF and use our products. For example, we expect to introduce our fermented quinoa-based breakfast porridge to rural schools. Educate the communities on the importance of a good nutrition, introduce to them quinoa and, if possible, even quinoa cultivation, and teach them how to ferment quinoa to develop the porridge. Hopefully, we could also introduce the same in other communities, for example, in poor areas in USA where there is a combination of obesity and micronutrient malnutrition.

Concerning our non-profit project:

During the first year, we expect to join or create a nutrition program together with organizations like UNICEF. We expect to design a project where we use our fermented quinoa porridge to stimulate the nutrition profile of children suffering from malnutrition. Educate them about the importance of eating nutritious foods and introduce quinoa, how to ferment it and even teach them how to cultivate it.

During the next 5 years, we expect to start the project in certain communities and slowly expand to others.

Educating will be a big part of the process and educating, while practicing, is the best way to integrate what they learn. This is our strategy and how we aim to have an impact in those communities. The fact that we can offer from the education on how to cultivate quinoa to how to use it, will offer the whole chain of production and make the project more feasible.

Moreover, in less rural communities, the fermented quinoa product could be use to create small businesses and sell the products.

We don’t have the contacts or the man-power to design a nutrition program from the beginning. We need organizations which have already identified the communities in need. We hope to integrate our project with one already established program. Joining a established program, we can more easily solve financial, technical, legal and cultural barriers.

By joining organizations with experience in all possible risk and problems that a project like this would have.

2 full time staff: Carme Plumed-Ferrer, CEO and Noora Rinkinen, product developer.

2 part-time staff: Anssi Komulainen, business developer and Ivan Karft, Head of marketing.

2 advisors:Atte von Wright, scientific advisor and Henrik Poulsen, business advisor.

Our team is comprise of genuinely gifted minds. We have very different backgrounds, ages and personalities but we have something very strongly in common: our passion for making foods that will change the world, that will make a difference, that people will really benefit from.

We all have similar values, that Probitat should be a completely transparent and honest company by always showing clear claims to the consumers. We are totally against misleading marketing and we want to show we are different.

Because the founders are both former teachers, researchers and scientists, we strongly promote education and we will use our knowledge to fulfill our social goals and enthusiasm.

We are not working with any other organization so far.

Our business model (for-profit) is based on product licensing. We are specialized in plant-based fermented food products and this is still very unknown within the food industry. We can offer our technology and knowledge to design plant-based healthier and more nutritious food products to the food industry. We aim to license those products to them. We are already under some negotiations.

However, since we (the founders) are both former researchers and teachers, we want to educate on the importance of consuming fermented quinoa food products to target global malnutrition problems, not only for those people in poor rural or urban areas, but also by the raise of, for example, the vegan population, which if their diets are not well design, there is a big risk of micronutrient deficiencies.

We are aiming to participate to an existing nutritional program since we don't have the connections or resources to create one from the beginning. We are applying to Solve because we believe our solution to target malnutrition is really needed and we hope, through Solve, to reach the appropriate organizations that could benefit from our technology and partner with them. We have the skills to provide education to the communities in need so that they understand the importance of eating nutritious foods and learn how to sustain themselves through the whole food chain; from cultivation to product development.

If we become a Solver, we hope to get the necessary help to contact the appropriate organizations, to join forces and fight global malnutrition. Our project is, at the moment, very broad and could be applied to different societies. During the 9 months program, we expect to focus on certain communities, identify more specific needs and slowly expand so that our solution reaches as many communities as possible.

We need help in many areas; connections, financial, legal, etc. But partnering with an existing organization where they already have experience with these issues would be the easiest to make our solution reach all in need.

FAO, WHO, UNICEF, WFP.

They already have programs targeting malnutrition. We would just need to join and plan together how to integrate our food products and educational skills.

We are qualified for this price since we could integrate our solution in communities with women and girls. We would target rural areas, educate their woman and girls about the importance of eating nutritious foods, teach them how to cultivate quinoa and how to ferment its grains to obtain healthy and nutritious food products.

With the award, we would show them how to make, for example, fermented quinoa based porridge and introduce that for breakfast to their children.

With the help of other non-profit organizations with already established nutrition programs (for example UNICEF), we could expand our goals and provide these communities with full nutrition intervention program (checking their nutrition markers, followup quinoa cultivation, etc.).