Spontaneously fermented traditional beverages as a source of bioactive compounds: an overview

Fermented food has been present throughout history, since fermentation not only helps preserving food, but also provides specific organoleptic characteristics typically associated to these foods. Most of the traditional fermented foods and artisanal beverages are produced by spontaneous generation, meaning no control of the microbiota, or the substrate used. Nevertheless, even not being standardized, they are an important source of bioactive compounds, such as antioxidant compounds, bioactive beeps, short chain fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. This review compiles a list of relevant traditional fermented beverages around the world, aiming to detail the fermentation process itself—including source of microorganisms, substrates, produced metabolites and the operational conditions involved. As well as to list the bioactive compounds present in each fermented food, together with their impact in the human health. Traditional fermented beverages from Mexico will be highlighted. These compounds are of high interest for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. To scale-up the home fermentation processes, it is necessary to fully understand the microbiology and biochemistry behind these traditional products. The use of good quality raw materials with standardized methodologies and defined microorganisms, may improve and increase the production of the desirable bioactive compounds and open a market for novel functional products.