Microbial fermentation for reduction of antinutritional factors

Antinutritional factors (ANFs) are naturally occurring compounds present in foods that may be responsible for reduction of nutrient utilization after consumption. The plant-derived antinutrients have adverse effects that are responsible for the absorption of nutrients and micronutrients. Certain antinutrients can exhibit health benefits at lower concentrations. Based on their stability toward heat, the ANFs can be classified as heat-stable (tannins, saponins, phytic acid, alkaloids, nonprotein amino acids, etc.) and heat-labile (protease inhibitors, lectins, toxic amino acids, and cyanogenic glycosides, etc.) groups. The majority of deleterious effects of these compounds can be eliminated by processing methods like soaking, germination, boiling, autoclaving, fermentation, genetic manipulation, etc. The desirable benefits of fermentation along with its ability to enhance the bio-accessibility and bioavailability of nutrients from different crops make it a popular process for neutralizing the ANFs.