@misc{9237168,
  abstract     = {{The increasing demand for sustainable and more healthy protein sources has contributed to an increased interest in plant-based proteins as meat analogues, with fermentation as an approach to improve their digestibility and nutritional quality. 

In the present study, texturized pea-protein (TPP) was fermented with fungi (Rhizopus delemar) and lactic acid bacteria (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v) with subsequent in vitro digestion (INFOGEST 2.0 protocol). Protein analyses were performed with Dumas and Bradford assay and compared between unfermented and fermented TPP before and after digestion. Further-more, intestinal responses were investigated using an in vitro 3D tissue model (EpiIntestinal™ SMI-200-FT, MatTek) of the human small intestine, in presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to stimulate inflammation. Epithelial permeability and cytokine response were analysed with tran-sepithelial/ transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent as-say (ELISA). 

Trends observed in the protein analysis with Dumas suggested increased levels of both total and soluble protein in undigested TPP following fermentation with R. delemar and L. plantarum, although not statistically confirmed. Furthermore, it appears that fermentation does not have a noticeable impact on digestibility. These findings, however, should be interpreted with caution, as total protein content theoretically is expected to remain relatively unchanged before and after digestion which was not observed in the present study. 

As for the cell model results, the non-detectable and low cytokine levels suggests that TPP doesn’t have a pro-inflammatory effect. TEER-measurements indicated increased epithelial per-meability following exposure of digested TPP. However, this interpretation was complicated with strong responses observed in the digestive blank, making it difficult to determine whether the results were caused by TPP exposure or digestion components only. A significant negative correlation between released IL-6 and permeability was observed, suggesting a potential rela-tionship between epithelial permeability and inflammatory response. 

Overall, the present study identified measurable epithelial responses following exposure to di-gested fermented TPP, although digestion components likely influenced and complicated these findings. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of TPP fermentation on digestibility and the material’s impact on epithelial barrier function and inflammatory signalling. In addition, methodological optimization of protein analyses, digestion procedure, digesta preparation and inflammatory stimulation conditions in the intestinal cell model is emphasised.}},
  author       = {{Ahrens, Ebba and Sterner, Rebecka}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Evaluation of Impact of Ultra-Processed Plant-Based Meat Analogues on Intestinal Health}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}