Health Benefits of Fermented Foods and Beverages

Demonstrating and explaining the health-promoting and therapeutic properties of fermented foods, this comprehensive book covers both the molecular process of fermentation and the resulting benefit to nutritional value and long-term health. Examining a range of fermented food products from yogurt to tempeh to wine, it looks at probiotic activity, degradation of anti-nutritive compounds, and the conversion of substrates into consumable products with enhanced flavor and aroma. Fermentation has also been shown to provide antioxidant functions, suppress allergic reactions, and improve overall digestion.

Professor Jyoti Prakash Tamang has been one of the authorities on global fermented foods and beverages for the last 27 years. He earned a PhD in microbiology from North Bengal University (1992), did postdoctoral research work at the National Food Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan (1995), and at the Institute of Hygiene and Toxicology, Germany (2002). He was awarded the National Bioscience Award of the Department of Biotechnology by the Government of India in 2005, and the Gourmand Best Cookbook Award in Paris in 2010. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2012), the Indian Academy of Microbiological Sciences (2010), and the Biotech Research Society of India (2006).

He has published more than 120 research papers, and authored several books includingHimalayan Fermented Foods: Microbiology, Nutrition, and Ethnic Values, andFermented Foods and Beverages of the World, both published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, USA in 2010. He has one patent, and has mentored several PhD students. He is a member of several prestigious national and international academic groups including the International Yeast Commission and the Asian Federation of Lactic Acid Bacteria, among others. Dr. Tamang is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and also dean of the School of Life Sciences of Sikkim University, a national university in Sikkim. He has served as the first registrar of Sikkim University appointed by the president of India.