Fermentation is a "miracle of mother nature", a 100% natural process. All you need is moisture, heat, time, nutrition and microbes doing the work. Microbes are, for example, yeasts or lactic acid bacteria. In the case of lactic acid bacteria, sugar is converted into mainly lactic acid. This is the commonly used "lactic acid fermentation". Think of cheese, yoghurt and sauerkraut. Fermented products are known to have a positive effect on taste, shelf life, as well as (intestinal) health. In Asia, soy is fermented and used, among other things, to prevent diarrhoea in newborn babies. Many studies have also been published in young animals such as piglets and calves in which fermented products have a positive effect on intestinal health. 

The gut

The gut of humans and animals is home to hundreds of billions of microbes. All these microbes together are called the "microbiome". There is increasing scientific evidence that the microbiome has a major influence on the ability of humans and animals to function properly and healthily. The microbes in the gut digest the food, releasing nutrients. This process also releases all kinds of other useful substances. These keep the gut in a healthy condition and help with a smooth bowel movement. The trick is to ensure that the microbiome contains lots of good bacteria and as few bad ones as possible. Lactic acid bacteria belong to the group of good bacteria. Let this bacteria also be very important in lactic acid fermentation.

Lactic acid bacteria

To ensure the fermentation gives the same end result (in terms of taste, pH, lactic acid and so on) every time, we add a quantity of lactic acid bacteria at the start of fermentation. These will grow tremendously fast (by a factor of 1,000 to 10,000) in the humid, warm and low-oxygen environment. And as they grow, they produce lactic acid, among other things. Besides the lactic acid bacteria themselves, lactic acid also has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the gut. Fermentation is thus an ideal technology to produce a huge amount of lactic acid bacteria and lactic acid quickly and efficiently. The number of lactic acid bacteria added at the start is very important to ensure that the fermentation gives the same result every day. 

Nutrients