UMD Theses and Dissertations
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Item EFFECTS OF FOOD PROCESSING METHODS ON PHENOLIC ACIDS AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY IN SWEET CORN(2024) Dong, Fangxiang; Yu, Liangli; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis research was designed to evaluate the effects of different food processing methods on the phenolic acid and antioxidant properties of sweet corn. Phenolic acids, such as ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid, are known for their health benefits. The research primarily focuses on two main stages of food processing: post-harvest handling and domestic cooking (boiling and steaming. These processes are evaluated to determine their impact on the soluble free, soluble conjugated, and insoluble bound forms of phenolic acids in sweet corn.Phenolic acids were analyzed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The study found that post-harvest handling significantly reduced the phenolic acid content, particularly in the insoluble bound form. Domestic cooking also led to notable reductions in phenolic content, though antioxidant activity, as measured by DPPH and ABTS assays, showed varying responses, sometimes increasing in treated samples. It was noted that different processing methods can induce structural changes that may either preserve or enhance the antioxidant properties. Furthermore, the results of this thesis explored optimal food processing techniques to maximize the retention of bioactive compounds, providing insights for better food preservation strategies.Item DEVELOPMENT OF CHITIN NANOCRYSTALS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL AREAS(2024) Jia, Xiaoxue; Wang, Qin; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Seafood industry generates millions of tons of waste annually, with crustacean shells being a significant component. Discarding these shells not only exacerbates environmental pollution but also represents a missed opportunity for resource recovery. This dissertation research aims to address these environmental challenges by repurposing crustacean shell waste into high-value nanomaterials, specifically chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs), and exploring their applications in the food, agricultural, and environmental sectors. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the fabrication, functionalization, and potential industrial applications of ChNCs, thereby offering a sustainable alternative to conventional synthetic materials.Traditional chitin nanocrystals ChNCs obtaining methods rely on strong acids, posing environmental risks. This research introduces a more sustainable phosphoric acid (PA) hydrolysis method, which uses significantly lower acid quantities, reduces environmental impact, and avoids corrosive waste. Moreover, the novel PA hydrolysis occurs in the solid state and can be handled by hand, simplifying operation. This method efficiently yields uniform ChNCs with positive surface charges (~+27 mV), suitable for scalable industrial applications. Additionally, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl (TEMPO) oxidation was employed to produce oxidized chitin nanocrystals (O-ChNCs) with negative surface charges (~ −56 mV). ChNCs and O-ChNCs were investigated as stabilizers in Pickering emulsions. Both were able to significantly enhance the stability of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, particularly when pH > 9. O-ChNCs further demonstrated encapsulation efficiencies of up to 80% for bioactive compounds like quercetin, highlighting their potential in food and nutraceutical delivery systems. Additionally, ChNCs and O-ChNCs were incorporated into a colorimetric sensor array (CSA) to monitor beef freshness. The negative charged O-ChNC-based sensor exhibited sensitivity to spoilage gases, achieving 99.3% accuracy in beef freshness detection with the aid of deep learning algorithms. This innovation provides a non-invasive cost-effective method to food quality and safety monitoring. Furthermore, ChNCs were deacetylated to form chitosan nanocrystals (ChsNCs), and subsequently modified with zinc to create a ChsNCs@Zn composite for the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from water. The composite achieved 50% PFAS removal within 5 minutes and ultimately achieved 68% removal, showcasing strong adsorption capabilities and offering a potential sustainable solution for PFAS remediation in contaminated water sources. In summary, this research is driven by the need to solve the environmental problem of seafood waste, while also tackling challenges in food stability and safety, as well as water purification. The findings contribute to advancing sustainable materials and practices in response to pressing environmental challenges.Item MACHINE LEARNING AND GENOMICS FOR IMPROVED FOOD SAFETY AND RISK ASSESSMENT OF SALMONELLA ENTERICA IN CHICKEN(2024) Benefo, Edmund Ofosu; Pradhan, Abani K; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Salmonella enterica is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses worldwide and is commonly associated with poultry. Salmonella has many closely related serovars, yet these serovars exhibit significant variability in many characteristics including host range, virulence, growth behavior, stress response, and antimicrobial resistance. In the past, this intricate and dynamic population heterogeneity of Salmonella severely hampered control efforts, but, today, this has improved through the sequencing of Salmonella genomes. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides a better understanding of the evolutionary and ecological adaptations that underlie the survival of Salmonella against antimicrobials, oxidative agents, non-optimal temperatures, and other stressors in the environment and their hosts. Coupling machine learning with WGS expands on these advantages by enabling the identification of genetic patterns that may not be immediately apparent. The overall goal of this research was to explore how machine learning and genomics can be integrated to improve food safety. First, a machine learning model was developed to identify stress response genes in Salmonella isolated from different poultry processing stages. It was found that beyond genes encoding for cold and heat shock proteins, other genes involved in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, DNA repair and replication, and biofilm formation are involved in Salmonella’s overall stress response mechanism. Additionally, a machine learning model was developed to predict antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotypes in Salmonella isolates using WGS data. The model predictions were comparable to existing bioinformatic methods for AMR prediction and identified AMR genes that are typically not the resistance determinants public health agencies focus on. Expanding this approach for AMR surveillance could lead to the discovery of novel AMR genes. Lastly, a quantitative microbial risk assessment for Salmonella in chicken that incorporated Salmonella heterogeneity in growth and virulence was developed. The findings revealed that variations in virulence have a greater impact on the risk of salmonellosis than variations in growth rate. Overall, this research contributes to efforts to enhance food safety measures and reduce chicken-associated Salmonella illnesses.Item Investigation into the Impact of Food Matrix on Bacterial Survival during Gastric Digestion(2024) Gao, Zhujun; Tikekar, Rohan V.; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over the years, food safety research often focused on the bacterial survival during food processing and storage, whereas physiological studies extensively explored the host-pathogen interaction in gastrointestinal tract. There is a need to understand the intermediate step on pathogen survival during gastric digestion and the potential impact from its food carrier. This study utilized water-in-oil (W-O) and oil-in-water (O-W) emulsion as well as deionized water (DI) as the fundamental model food matrices to study the potential protection by food matrix during simulated gastric digestion. Using Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium as a sample foodborne pathogen, this study investigated the survival kinetics of bacteria using various models of simulated gastric digestion. In a simplified static pH simulated gastric digestion model, inoculated W-O and O-W emulsion matrices were challenged with simulated gastric fluid (SGF) containing HCl and pepsin with mixing using a stomacher for two hours. W-O emulsion showed significant protection of Salmonella survival compared to O-W emulsion and DI water. This protective effect appeared to be matrix dependent regardless of the inoculation location of Salmonella (in dispersed phase vs. in continuous phase). Within the same emulsion type, inoculating Salmonella in water phase or oil phase did not show significant difference in its survivability during simulated gastric digestion. The study was then extended to an improved gastric digestion model where the chyme pH dropped from 4.0 to 1.5 over three hours, and the chyme mixing was achieved by an orbital shaker. In addition, the new SGF was modified to be HCl solution with pepsin, amano lipase A, mucin and NaCl. Under this digestion condition, there was no significant difference in Salmonella survival between W-O emulsion, O-W emulsion, and DI water. Moreover, the dispersed-continuous phase ratio of emulsion composition also showed no impact on Salmonella survival. The simulated gastric digestion model setup was also further analyzed including the role of individual digestive enzyme, the pH impact, and the mechanical mixing approach. In the dynamic pH simulated gastric digestion model, partial activity from lipase accelerated the disruption of emulsion structure for both W-O and O-W emulsion matrices. Mild mixing using an orbital shaker also showed difference in Salmonella survival compared to vigorous mixing using a stomacher. Lastly, this study expanded from using Salmonella as the single bacteria strain into a tailored natural microbiome community. Natural microbiome communities from Golden Delicious (GD) and Empire (EP) apples were manually enriched using bacteria culturing broth at pH 5 and pH 7, respectively. The enriched apple microbiome was then collected and analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing to study the microbial composition. With a significant decrease in Alpha diversity, the culturable apple microbiome was successfully enriched from less than 3 log CFU/ml to more than 8 log CFU/ml. There was no known foodborne human pathogens detected in the enrichment, and the most abundant genera appeared to be potential plant growth promoting bacteria. The collected apple microbiome was then inoculated in various food matrices to study its survivability during dynamic pH simulated gastric digestion including DI water, apple sauce (AS), chicken puree (CK), sweet potato puree (SP), and W-O emulsion. The enriched apple microbiome showed remarkably high survivability in W-O emulsion throughout the full three-hour digestion treatment. CK also exhibited moderate protective effect compared to SP at the same condition. There was no significant difference between DI and AS on bacterial survivability. In addition, the apple microbiome enriched at two pH levels (5 & 7) showed similar bacteria inactivation kinetics. In conclusion, this study revealed the potential impact from food matrix on bacterial survival during simulated gastric digestion. W-O emulsion offered significant protection of certain bacteria strains or communities in specific simulated gastric digestion models. The parameters in gastric digestion models also affected bacterial survival. Future work should focus on exploring the potential impact from other types of food matrices, expanding the microbial survival study into other bacterial strains as well as a more complex microbiome community, and further comparing the various gastric digestion models.Item Antiproliferative Activity of Soybean and Tempeh Extracts on Human Colorectal Cancer Cells(2024) Fan, Rongjie; Lee, Seong-Ho; Wei, Cheng-I; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Tempeh, an indigenous Indonesian soybean product, is produced through a fermentation process of soybean that enhances the bioavailability of its beneficial nutrients such as proteins and phytoestrogens. Recent studies suggest that the fermentation process of tempeh may enhance the biofunctionality properties of soybeans including anticancer activity. The current study is designed to present a comparative analysis to see if defatted extracts of unfermented soybeans and tempeh (fermented soybeans) possess anti-proliferative activity in human colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. The experimental methods involve the production and extraction of soybeans extract (SE) and tempeh extract (TE) at a concentration of 35 g/100 mL (w/v) with 70% ethanol, followed by rotary evaporation and freeze-drying. MTT assays indicated that both SE and TE exhibited inhibitory activity in viability of human CRC cells, with TE demonstrating a more pronounced dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth compared to SE. Cell cycle analysis led to a significant increase of G1 arrest in both SE and TE-treated cells. The induction of apoptosis was observed from the cells treated with both SE and TE. Western blot analysis revealed an increase of PARP cleavage for both treatments, demonstrating activation of apoptotic pathways in SE and TE-treated cells.Item UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTIONS OF COLD ATMOSPHERIC PLASMA AND THE PLANT STRESS RESPONSE TO IMPROVE FRESH PRODUCE SAFETY(2023) Gilbert, Andrea Rochelle; Tikekar, Rohan V; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a surface modification technology that produces oxidative species that inactivate microorganisms. This technology has been shown to be an effective sanitization technology for use on a variety of food products and leafy greens are a uniquely promising application. CAP products, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), UV light, and ozone, are environmental stressors with antimicrobial effects that plants already encounter in their natural environment, and fresh produce will produce a stress response when treated by CAP and this stress response is not limited to directly treated tissue. The stress responses of baby spinach, red leaf lettuce, baby kale and live basil were evaluated post-CAP treatment. In all evaluated fresh produce CAP treatment resulted in a significant (p<0.05) increase in ROS. This increase in reactive oxygen species was not limited to the plant tissues directly treated by CAP. In live basil, ROS generation was detected on indirectly treated leaves sharing the same stem, and in spinach the increase in ROS levels continued for 12 hours post-treatment. To further understand how the elevated ROS levels affected plant tissues the flavonoid content was evaluated in baby spinach, red leaf lettuce and baby kale. Baby spinach CAP treatment resulted in a significant increase in flavonoids at 50w and 120w power level. Flavonoids in red leaf lettuce were only significantly affected in directly treated leaf tissue. In baby kale, CAP treatment significantly reduced flavonoid content in both direct and indirectly treated leaf tissue. To understand the differences between the two leafy greens species and the effect of ozone and UVB treatment, two products treated with CAP, were also evaluated on baby spinach and baby kale. The two non-CAP treatments resulted in the opposite effects in baby spinach and baby kale, and an examination into the response of the stress hormones salicylic acid and jasmonic acid was inconclusive. The novel interactions of this sanitization treatment with the plant stress response may provide useful opportunities to improve both the food safety and nutritional quality of fresh produce. In addition to the research project, I composed a needs assessment survey instrument to evaluate food safety compliance among small and very small food processors in the northeastern United States in cooperation with the Northeast Center for the Advancement of Food Safety. The survey instrument was sent to food safety professionals and regulators in the region. Results of the survey revealed that the food safety concepts that processors struggled to learn were often those cited by regulators during inspections.Item EVALUATION OF THE COPPER HOMEOSTASIS AND SILVER RESISTANCE ISLAND AND ITS ROLE IN PERSISTENCE OF SALMONELLA ENTERICA(2023) Haendiges, Julie; Tikekar, Rohan; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Salmonella enterica is one of the leading bacterial cause of foodborne illness in the UnitedStates. Although there are many serovars, only a small subset causes human illness. Since Salmonella is ubiquitous in the environment, the Food and Drug Administration has established regulations for food processors to ensure that the products are free of contamination. Low-moisture foods are commonly ready-to-eat, and due to the low water activity do not promote growth of bacteria. However, Salmonella has been shown to persist in these foods. There havebeen two outbreaks and multiple recalls in the United States due to contaminated pistachios. Based on a retrospective study, results show that there is evidence of a contamination in the growing orchard and a significant number of Salmonella isolates from the environments contain the Copper Homeostasis and Silver Resistance Island (CHASRI) cassette. This raises several questions: what is the prevalence of CHASRI among different Salmonella isolates from food and environmental sources? Does presence of CHASRI enable Salmonella to survive better against copper stress? And whether presence of CHASRI provide cross-protection against other stresses such as desiccation and thermal treatment? This dissertation attempts to answer those questions. The prevalence of the CHASRI in Salmonella was determined by the use of publicly availablewhole genome sequencing data. The CHASRI was found in 61 different serovars and types of sources. The presence of the CHASRI in isolates from low-moisture foods that have caused previous outbreaks (peanut butter, nuts, spices) was interesting to note, and leads to future studies on correlations between this island and virulence. Based on results of phylogenetic analysis of CHASRI sequences from closed genomes, we determined there were four types of CHASRI found in Salmonella. Traditionally, the Salmonella Genomic Island-4 (SGI-4) is found but in addition the CHASRI can incorporate by itself, within a variant of SGI-4, or via a rare plasmid. Interestingly, the sequence of the CHASRI from SGI-4 and the variant SGI-4 were highly different. The high SNP differences in sequence along with the difference in the arsenic operon led to the conclusion that these variants arose independently. A Salmonella Senftenberg strain (CFSAN047523), isolated from pistachios, was used to createthree knockouts (∆cus, ∆pco, and ∆CHASRI). Previous studies have looked at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of strains with and without the CHASRI but have omitted the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). In this study, we used the knockouts to test for both MIC and MBC. While the MIC was similar for the strains, the MBC was greater in the wild type and partial CHASRI knockouts. Growth and inactivation kinetics were measured in different concentrations of copper sulfate. At higher levels of copper sulfate, the presence of the CHASRI made cells more resilient to inactivation by copper sulfate. Evidence shows that the stress response in Salmonella has the ability to crosstalk and provideprotection against multiple stresses. To investigate this phenomenon further, our isolates were tested against a multitude of stresses to evaluate for cross-protection that may be due to theCHASRI. Cells undergoing copper stress were better equipped to survive lethal copper concentrations and desiccation if the CHASRI was present. The presence of Salmonella in final pistachio products that have been fully processed identifies that some adaptation and stress response is occurring in the processing facility. Inoculated pistachios with the wild type and ∆CHASRI strain were thermally processed to test for survivors. This study showed that the presence of the CHASRI gave the isolate an advantage to survive thermal processing after desiccation. Overall, this study presents the prevalence of the CHASRI in Salmonella enterica as well as theimportant role it plays in copper tolerance. The evidence of cross-protection and tolerance to copper leads to future research regarding gene expression and virulence assessment.Item FOOD SAFETY IN THE ERA OF NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING: GENOMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SHIGA TOXIN-PRODUCING ESCHERICHIA COLI AND METAGENOMIC SURVEILLANCE OF IRRIGATION SURFACE WATER(2023) Huang, Xinyang; Meng, Jianghong; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this study, we first utilized high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatic analyses to characterize potential public health threats posed by non-top-7 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). NGS allowed us to detect virulence (n = 46) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) (n = 27) factors within the genomes of the STEC strains, to make genome-wide comparisons with published human clinical isolates, and to characterize three novel O-antigen gene clusters. We found that the distribution of 33 virulence genes and 15 AMR determinants exhibited significant differences among serotypes (P < 0.05), and that 47 strains were genetically related to human clinical strains inferred from a pan-genome phylogenetic tree. We secondly developed a web tool, PhyloPlus, that allowed users to generate customized bacterial and archaeal phylogenies, which can be incorporated into their own microbial community studies. We also utilized two public datasets (human microbiome, n = 60; fermented food metagenomes, n = 62) to illustrate how application of phylogeny improved our analyses. We showed that the integration of phylogenies introduced alternative phylogeny-based diversity metrics and allowed more conservative null model constructions, thereby reducing potential inflation of type I errors. Finally, we employed deep metagenomic shotgun sequencing, and our developed web tool, to investigate on a collection of 404 surface water samples collected from four regions in Latin America. We reported the high detection rates of pathogenic and contaminant bacteria in these samples, including Salmonella (29.21%), Listeria (6.19%), and E. coli (35.64%), necessitating the monitoring and proper treatment on these surface waters. We also described the regional differences in terms of sample taxonomic composition and the resistome, and further presented key factors that drove the separation patterns for each sampling region. We utilized recent metagenomic assembly and binning algorithms to report the construction of 1,461 de-replicated metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that were of at least medium quality. The incorporation of the MAGs into the taxonomic classifier Kraken2’s database led to a 12.85% increase in classifiable sequence reads. Additionally, we conducted network analysis on AMR genes and the genus-level taxonomy, based on assembled contigs, to provide information to better understand the dynamics of the transferring of AMR genes.Item DEVELOPMENT OF HORDEIN-PECTIN NANOPARTICLE COMPLEX FOR THE ENCAPSULATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FOR ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITIES(2023) Tarwa, Kevin; Wang, Qin; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Nanoparticle delivery systems composed of food polymers are a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to protect functional ingredients and promote healthier food options. In this research, a hordein-pectin nanoparticle complex (HP-NPC) was fabricated using an anti-solvent precipitation and electrostatic deposition (pH 4) method for the encapsulation of hydrophobic bioactive compounds to enhance their functionalities. First, hordein was extracted from whole barley grains to obtain a dried powder to synthesize hordein nanoparticles (HNP). Then pectin with a degree of esterification (DE) around 71% was applied as a coating material. The average particle size of the freshly prepared nanoparticle complex was relatively small (~246 ± 11 nm), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that cationic hordein interacted with anionic pectin mainly though newly formed hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interaction as indicated by their opposite surface charges. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the morphology of the nanoparticle complex was spherical with a smooth surface. The pectin coating was shown to have a protective effect against pH (3.0-9.0), heat (80 °C for 0-120 mins), and salt (0-100 µM) which are all factors known to degrade proteins. Second, lutein, a hydrophobic bioactive xanthophyll was encapsulated into HP-NPC to develop a lutein-hordein/pectin nanoparticle complex (L-HP-NPC). Since lutein has low water solubility and low bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), the effect of the encapsulation system on the functional properties of lutein was investigated. The loading capacity (LC%) and encapsulation efficiency (EE%) was around 15.5 and 82%, respectively. In vitro digestion resulted in a higher bioaccessibility of lutein for encapsulated HP-NPC (~22.3%), which is defined as the percentage of lutein accessible for absorption in the simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) compared to lutein encapsulated into HNP (~9%). The ability of pectin to produce gels in acidic media was shown to have a significant effect against gastric enzymes that can degrade both hordein and lutein. Also, lyophilization (an important step in food processing) had no significant effect on the stability of L-HP-NPC. This encapsulation system could potentially be used as a functional ingredient in the food industry to develop healthy and nutritious foods for consumers. Third, carvacrol, a phenolic monoterpene known for its antimicrobial properties was encapsulated into HP-NPC to develop a carvacrol-hordein/pectin nanoparticle complex (CA-HP-NPC). Special focus was on the solubility of encapsulate carvacrol due to its known low solubility in aqueous solutions. The antimicrobial effectiveness of the encapsulated nanoparticle complex was tested against non-pathogenic gram-positive L. innocua and gram-negative E. coli K12. CA-HP-NPC was still able to maintain a relatively small particle size (~207 ± 8 nm) after being dispersed into water post-lyophilization. Carvacrol was shown to be effective against the two bacteria, however, CA-HP-NPC did not show antimicrobial effectiveness. Although carvacrol was successfully encapsulated into the nanoparticle complex, further studies on their release properties need to be investigated to further understand their functional properties for food applications.Item FERMENTING KALE VEGETABLE (Brassica oleracea Var Sabella) IMPROVES ITS PROPERTIES AS A FUNCTIONAL FOOD(2023) Subedi, Ujjwol; Obanda, Diana; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The properties of kale as a functional food are well known. Fermentation is a process that has been shown to improve the health impacts of foods. In this study, we sought to determine how fermentation further improves or augments the functional food properties of kale. We tested six different fermentation methods which included traditional practices and inoculation with different bacterial species and compared outcomes to the unfermented control. After 16 days of fermentation, we quantified (i) selected bioactive components and (ii) anti-nutritional factors. We then determined (i) the antioxidant capacity of the whole vegetable, (ii) the microbiota composition of the vegetable, and (iii) the anti-inflammation capacity of the ethanolic extract of the vegetable. Fermentation significantly increased (i) the quantities of total polyphenols from 8.54 to 10.71 mg GAE/g (ii) sulforaphane from 960.8 ± 41.76 to 1777 ± 45.95 μg/g, and (iii) antioxidant capacity from 61.99 to 67.37 % respectively, and antinutritional factors oxalate and tannin content significantly reduced by 49 % and 29.83 % respectively. Fermented kale extract exhibited potent anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages by reducing the iNOS expression by 84.3% and TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 mRNA levels by 62, 68, and 85.5 %, respectively. Fermenting kale changed the surface microbiota by reducing the population of the inflammation-inducing Proteobacteria while increasing health-promoting Firmicutes; including Lactobacillus. All fermentation methods had a beneficial impact compared to the unfermented control, but the mixed culture of L. lactis and L. acidophilus was the most effective. In summary, fermenting enhanced the health benefits of kale by increasing the concentration of total polyphenol, sulforaphane content, antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammation capacity, and reducing the quantity of anti-nutritional factors. Furthermore, it promoted the prebiotic and/or probiotic vehicle properties of the vegetable by changing the proportion of beneficial bacteria and those associated with inflammation.