Process for the manufacture of a fermented health-promoting product

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process that yields a product that can suitably be used in the treatment and prevention of diarrhea without giving rise to any undesirable side-effects. The invention is based on the discovery that aqueous fractions obtained from the fermentation of certain plant materials with fungi, may effectively be used to prevent, manage and/or treat diarrhea. Thus, in one aspect, the invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a health promoting product, said process comprising the subsequent steps of: a) preparing a substrate containing from 30 to 60 wt. % dry matter of which at least 50 wt. % is derived from a plant material selected from legume, pulses, fruit, nuts, beans, seeds, grain, tubers and mixtures thereof, said substrate containing between 7.5 and 70% protein, between 20 and 67% carbohydrates and less than 40% lipids by weight of dry matter, b) inoculating said substrate with a specified fungus, c) allowing the fungus to ferment the substrate for at least 6 hours at a temperature in excess of 25° C., d) isolating an aqueous fraction from the fermentate so obtained, e) drying said aqueous fraction so as to obtain a powder which expresses at least 10 U/g of protease activity. Another aspect of the present invention relates to a composition for use in a method of treating diarrhea, wherein said method comprises administering an effective amount of a powder obtained by the process as described above.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.