µ-ANDES

Microbiota of Andean Food: tradition for healthy products

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

Synergies between European countries and Andean regions will deal for the revalorization of indigenous resources represented by Andean traditional foods. The aim of this project will be the construction of a network based on complementary competences between partners; fruitful exchange between researchers will be aimed by a common scientific project that will be the opportunity to an effective integration of involved groups. Countries from the Andean region are home to a wide range of natural resources, representing an important proportion of the Earth’s total biodiversity. Fluctuating altitude and topography produces countless micro-climatic variations these accounting for a high agricultural diversification. The achievement of multiple agronomic, ecological, economic, culinary and socio-cultural objectives constitutes a main concept in traditional Andean life. The great variety of food available in the Andes does not only provide nourishment, but also good health. In particular the project will focus on the rescue of ancestral Andean foods crops and cattle such as traditional fermented potatoes (Tocosh) and corn (Chicha de Jora) from Perú; fermented beverage Atole agrio “Xocoatolli” from Mexico; fermented milk products (suero costeño and queso Paipa) from Colombia and llama meat and quinoa-based fermented products from North-western Argentina. Scientific experience of the involved groups will be applied as a multidisciplinary approach, using advanced molecular techniques to identify the indigenous microbiota, capitalizing the technological and functional properties of the isolated strains.

Introduzione (Teaser)

Countries from the Andean region and mountain areas of Central America have an important proportion of Earth's total biodiversity. An EU-funded project is providing opportunities for researchers to study the biodiversity in food.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The project 'Microbiota of Andean food: Tradition for healthy products' (micro-ANDES) is striving to bring together different specialists, including food microbiologists, technologists and agronomists, and molecular biologists from EU and Latin American research institutions. The goal is to create a network to strengthen research partnerships through staff exchanges.

During the first three years of the project, research has focused on the study of the microbial biodiversity of Andean foods. The team studied traditional fermented potatoes-based food (Tocosh and Tunta) and corn-based food (Chica de Jora) from Peru; fermented beverage Atole agrio Xocoatolli from Mexico; and llama meat, amaranth and quinoa-based fermented products from north-western Argentina.

Using culture-dependent and culture independent approaches for population analyses, including new-generation sequencing, the team made advancements in characterising the microbiota of Chica, Tocosh, llama meat products, quinoa and amaranth sourdough and Tunta. Both bacterial and yeast, responsible for the fermentation activities were isolated and characterised, with the final aim of exploiting the natural biodiversity of complex microbial communities.

These studies revealed information about food quality and the features of microbial isolates, including bacteriocin production, antifungal activity, vitamin production, and safety-related traits, such as virulence and antibiotic resistance.

The main outcomes of the project are: the training of more than 45 scientists in an international environment and the establishment of an EU-Latin American network on traditional food. The team also produced the definition of guidance documents for compliance of the hygiene regulations and a microbial culture collection.

The results of the project were exploited in two different manners: the publication of scientific data on peer review journals and thought workshops made in EU and in the Andean region. The latter involved local farmers and food producers and the Latin American institutions responsible for quality in the agro-food sector and for food safety.