US-based food company Kraft Heinz and APC Microbiome Ireland have agreed to collaborate for the development of new natural cultures for food fermentations.

Fermented foods are developed using controlled microbial growth, facilitated by microorganisms or microbial communities, usually in the form of starter cultures, adjuncts or probiotics.

It is claimed that the fermentation process helps in extending shelf-life of the food products, improving its safety and quality, as well as increasing the palatability of foods.

Research institute APC Microbiome Ireland noted that the process will further enhance the nutritional and functional properties of foods as it transforms substrates to bioactive end-products.

The new APC-KHC collaborative project will initially run for one year and have four researchers, who will be led by APC Principal Investigators Professors Paul Ross, Colin Hill and Catherine Stanton.

APC Microbiome Ireland director and leader of the new research collaboration Paul Ross said: “Research on fermented foods and culture metabolites forms part of the APC’s overall strategy to manipulate the microbiome of food for quality, safety and human health associated improvement.

“APC’s research feeds into industries such as human health, animal welfare, nutrition, infectious disease, infant formula and sustainability. APC is currently working on research projects with more than 30 companies, from multinational food and nutrition corporations to indigenous SMEs.”

Under this collaboration, the partners will focus on the development of a wide range of bioactive end-products and their applications in food systems.

Kraft Heinz R&D, Global Growth and Technology head Hennie Myburgh said: “Partnering with APC Microbiome Ireland aligns with our new global technology strategy.

“As a company with a long history in fermented products, we are very excited by this collaboration with APC Microbiome Ireland as this partnership will further strengthen our research platforms, enabling the next generation of fermented products and ingredients.

“The technologies that will be developed together will align with the growing consumer demand for cleaner products. As a consumer-obsessed company, the output of this partnership will allow us to continue delivering novel, clean-label innovations.”