In 2020, we started a community science project designed to take a peek at those amazing microbes in homemade fermented fruits and vegetables. In response to the request for help, our team was thrilled to receive 80 different fermented fruit and vegetable samples. These fermented foods contained diverse ingredients, ranging from cabbage, lemons, and chili peppers, and many more. Using modern “microbiome” genetic methods, diverse bacterial communities were detected in the foods.. It was fascinating to learn that each fermented food was unique, containing different proportions of microbes. This exciting result shows the importance of different recipes and possibly even different kitchens and fermented food preparation practices on the final result.

Click here for detailed overview of the different ferment samples and description of the bacterial groups found.

See the pictures below for some of our communities amazing creations!