FLEGME is a pre-competitive project of participatory sciences carried out by Vegepolys Valley with the scientific coordination of INRAE.
Lacto-fermentation is an ancestral technique for preserving food and it is coming back into fashion in the current context of energy crisis. Based on water and salt, this process does not require any cooking or refrigeration, and it can help preserve cabbage, carrots or black radishes, among others, for several months. It also favors the diversification of our diet thanks to the creation of new flavors and it facilitates the staggered consumption of vegetables throughout the season.
In October 2019, Vegepolys Valley launched the FLEGME project with the scientific coordination of INRAE, in order to structure a knowledge base around fermented vegetables, their fermentative ecosystems, conservation, nutritional value and culinary uses.
This initiative, financed with 165,000€ thanks to the French regions of Brittany and Pays de la Loire, as well as the Ekip endowment fund (out of a total amount of 595,000€), mobilized 250 citizens and 28 partner structures from the economic, agricultural, research and training spheres for a period of three years.
The project has allowed for the creation of:
● an ABC of fermented vegetables intended for artisans wishing to market products resulting from spontaneous fermentation (key stages, health control plan and regulations...)
● a collection of gourmet recipes
“FLEGME is an emergence and research project within an anticipation approach," explains Solen Lehérissey, engineer at Vegepolys Valley in charge of the FLEGME project (co-financed by the Brittany and Pays de la Loire regions). The project lasted 3 years, with the participation of approximately 30 partners from different spheres: companies, chambers of agriculture, training organizations (including agricultural high schools), researchers and even 250 citizens. The process of lacto-fermentation of vegetables is ancient but consumers are the ones who brought it back to fashion. The process became more popular during the pandemic, much like “homemade” food and healthy eating. A trend which professionals have now adopted.
But Solen explains that there were some problems in the research conducted and within the fruit and vegetable sector. “Through various conferences, researchers realized that there were no real studies or even specific regulations on fermented vegetables. When writing the project, we did not know what was going on with the ecosystems involved, so we had to look into this subject, particularly with regard to the health aspect.”
Vegepolys Valley embraced the subject “because of the interest from the different economic actors of the region, from the small manufacturers of lacto-fermented vegetables as well as the chambers of agriculture of Brittany and Pays de la Loire. It is a collective project for a collective exchange of knowledge.”
What’s next? Promoting the project and all the research work done. “We want to transfer the research results into different formats (flyers, webpage…) for better accessibility for consumers and professionals. Because the lacto-fermentation of vegetables could represent another outlet today for many producers facing a surplus of production, with a significant advantage, which is “the possibility to ferment a wide variety of vegetables.”
Citizen participation
“Early on in our discussions with the researchers of INRAE, we thought it could be interesting to involve citizens in the research through participatory science projects, because the lacto-fermentation of vegetables can simply be done at home. So the citizens who wanted to know more about the microbiology of their jars then sent “homemade” samples to the researchers of INRAE. This way, partners of the FLEGME projects were able to get a picture of the families of bacteria present and conduct a global study of the ecosystems.
"On a positive note, no pathogenic bacteria were found in these samples, which is of course very encouraging and reassuring in terms of health. The lacto-fermentation process consists of the transformation of sugars present on the vegetable into lactic acid under the action of specific microorganisms called lactic bacteria. The pH goes down very quickly, which prevents the development of pathogenic bacteria.”
Over the course of 36 months, the project mobilized:
Economic actors: Charles Christ (72), COTOTERRA (44), Fermentoo (75), JiBio (37), L'atelier du Ferment (53), Les Cru'c (35), Protial (49), Terrena Innovation (44), Vega Ferments (29), Marie-Claire Frédéric culinary journalist (79),
Professional agricultural organizations: Chamber of Trades and Crafts - Cité du Goût et des Saveurs (44), Chamber of Agriculture of Brittany and Chamber of Agriculture of Pays de la Loire,
Research and training organizations: INRAE (MICA department), CTCPA (44), ESA - Higher School of Agriculture (49), UCO BN - Catholic University of West Brittany North (22),School of Agriculture and Nature of La Roche sur Yon (85), Agricultural school of Nantes Terre Atlantique (44), ISTOM - Higher school of agriculture and international development (49), Vegenov (29),
Associated partners: Xavier Hamon (University of Sciences and Gastronomic Practices), Ju Hyun Lee & Ludovic Burel (Laboratory of Food and Social Fermentation), Christine Raiffaud, Julie Maenhout (Les Jarres Crues)
And 250 fermenting citizens.
For more information:
Solen Lehérissey
Vegepolys Valley
vegepolys-valley.eu