HealthFerm: Innovative pulse and cereal-based food fermentations for human health and sustainable diets

HealthFerm is a European research project investigating innovative pulse and cereal-based food fermentations together with the health effects and consumer perception of novel fermented foods.

About the project

Enable an evidence-based transition in society and industry from traditional to sustainable plant-based fermented foods and diets that deliver health benefits to consumers by design.

Main objectives are:

One: To disentangle the interaction between food fermentation microbiomes, fermented grain-based foods and the human gut microbiome and their implications for human health
Two: To use generated knowledge, microbial resources and fermentation technology to develop novel foods.

Funded by

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European Comission
HealthFerm has received 13.11 mil. euro a four year funding from the European Commission.

More about the project

The aim of this project are divided into the following objectives:

Objective 1: To identify, characterize and functionalise existing and novel microbial resources for Innovative foods.

  • A community science approach in which food fermentation microbiomes will be collected from citizens, artisans and companies in Europe and across the globe and characterised for their potential to contribute to enhanced health benefits of foods. Data will be made public in a database and repositories.
  • Using innovative multi-omics systems biology approaches to rationally design microbial consortia for health-focused food fermentations based on genomic, metabolic & substrate compatibility.

Objective 2: To optimize fermentation processes for grain-based (cereal, wheat and oat) and pulse (faba bean and yellow pea) raw materials and develop applicable solutions for liquid, semi-solid and solid alternatives for dairy and meat-based foods.

  • Using optimised novel microbial consortia for efficient incorporation of grain-based materials in foods.
  • Understanding and directing the chemical and matrix-related impacts of novel food fermentations.

Objective 3:To create advanced knowledge on human health-related aspects of fermented grain-based foods.

  • Defining gut microbiota profiles related to cardiometabolic disease and health.
  • Providing scientific evidence on the effects of different diets on human microbiota profiles associated with      cardiometabolic health or disease.
  • Studying mechanisms underlying potential (cardiometabolic) health benefits related to fermented foods.

Objective 4: To facilitate the inclusion of fermented plant-based foods in the diets of  European consumers.

  • Investigating consumer perception towards fermented foods and plant-based foods.
  • Identifying and mitigating barriers for increased consumption of fermented plant-based foods.

Objective 5: To interact with stakeholders on food fermentation and project findings, build  and ecosystem around this, and train researchers in order to generate long-term impact.

  • The establishment of a Stakeholder Board, including relevant organisations and ongoing EU projects, that will be regularly informed about and involved in the project’s activities.
  • The organisation of a series of webinars, workshops and summer schools for training of junior and senior researchers in the different research areas of the project.
  • The set-up of a unique European community and ecosystem that will last beyond the project.

CHR. HANSEN A/S (Denmark)

Puratos (Belgium)

Valio Ltd (Finland)

Planted Foods AG (Switzerland)

B2F – Bridge 2 Food

HGF – HealthGrain Forum

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)

ETH Zurich (Switzerland)

University of Helsinki (Finland)

Umeå University (Sweden)

European Research and Project Office GmbH (Germany)

Institute of Biology Bucharest (Romania)

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy)

University of Turku (Finland)

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden)

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (Finland)

University of Eastern Finland (Finland)

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Flemish Institute for Biotechnology) (Belgium)

Chalmers University of Technology

Institut Paul Bocuse (France)

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