Traditional Fermented Beverages: Origin, Processing, and Qualitative Valorisation

Fermentation is a biochemical process influenced by microorganisms e.g. bacteria, yeast, mold, etc., and takes place under controlled environmental conditions viz. time, temperature, pH, presence or absence of oxygen, etc. It is considered to be one of the primitive food preservation techniques that significantly enhance the nutritional value of food materials as well as shelf stability. Some of the fermented beverages are produced industrially, but can also be produced by certain ethnic groups, called traditional fermented beverages. Nowadays, traditional fermented beverages gained significant importance due to their health-beneficial characteristics. Due to the functional properties of these beverages e.g. lowering of cholesterol levels thereby minimizing heart diseases, reducing blood sugar levels, the occurrence of high fiber content, immunomodulatory function, high digestibility, lowering of ant nutritional constituents, minimizing gastrointestinal diseases, antidiabetic effect, etc., consumers interest and demand growing on rapidly. Alcoholic and Lactic acid fermentations are the most common types of fermentations employed to make fermented beverages. Different traditional fermented beverages like Tella, Tej, Keribo, Shamita, Chako, Chu, Yu, Zutho, Chaang, Boza, Hardaliya, etc. are produced in different regions of the world. In this regard, various probiotic dairy and non-dairy beverages have been considered due to their tremendous therapeutic potential. The occurrence of health-beneficial probiotics generally includes various lactic acid bacteria e.g. Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Leuconostoc, Streptococcus, etc. The interrelationship between the consumption trend and the health benefits of traditional fermented beverages depends upon probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic activities.