Fermented Plant-Based Foods and Postbiotics for Glycemic Control-Microbial Biotransformation of Phytochemicals.

ABSTRACT: Plant-based fermented foods are increasingly promoted for glycemic control, yet their mechanisms and clinical impact remain incompletely defined. This narrative review synthesizes mechanistic, preclinical, and human data for key matrices-kimchi and other fermented vegetables, tempeh/miso/natto, and related legume ferments, kombucha and fermented teas, plant-based kefir, and cereal/pulse sourdoughs. Across these systems, microbial β-glucosidases, esterases, tannases, and phenolic-acid decarboxylases remodel polyphenols toward more bioaccessible aglycones and phenolic acids, while lactic and acetic fermentations generate organic acids, exopolysaccharides, bacterial cellulose, γ-polyglutamic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, and bioactive peptides. We map these postbiotic signatures onto proximal me

SUBMITTER: Cevallos-Fernandez E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12844311 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature