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Is vinegar the ultimate functional food?

Granny always told you that vinegar could heal almost any ailment. Well, it turns out granny was right…

A fascinating review article published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety summarised the functional properties of grain vinegars and fruit vinegars and compared the functional ingredients, sources, and formation mechanisms of these different types of vinegars.

Researchers from Huazhong Agricultural University in China looked at studies showing how both grain vinegars and fruit vinegars, which are fermented by traditional methods, possess a variety of physiological functions, such as anti-bacteria, anti-infection, anti-oxidation, blood glucose control, lipid metabolism regulation, weight loss, and anticancer activities.

Antioxidants and more

The review also looked at the anti-bacterial and anti-infection abilities of vinegars – due mainly to the presence of organic acids, polyphenols, contained in the starting materials, and melanoidins which are produced from fermentation processes.

Indeed, the fermentation process seems key. Many commercial vinegars that you find in the supermarket are not fermented and may not have the same benefits.

The blood glucose control, lipid metabolism regulation, and weight loss capabilities associated with vinegars are mainly due to acetic acid.

Other functional ingredients present in vinegars provide certain health benefits: caffeoylsophorose, an antioxidant found in red vinegars fermented from sweet potato, inhibits disaccharidase, thus helping to maintain a better blood sugar balance, and ligustrazine, found in a type of rice-based black vinegar, known as Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar, has been shown to improve blood circulation,

Regarding anticancer activities, several grain vinegars have been shown to strongly inhibit the growth of some cancer cells in vivo or in vitro but, say the researchers, with the exception of the tryptophol in Japanese black soybean vinegar, the majority of functional anti-cancer ingredients in vinegar remain largely unknown and uninvestigated.

A functional food

Vinegar is increasingly being studies for it’s beneficial properties.

Last year, UK researchers at the University of Birmingham found that highly diluted acetic acid, an active ingredient of household vinegar, has been shown to be an effective alternative agent to prevent infection and kill bacteria found in burn wounds.

The study , published in the journal PLOS ONE found that the acetic acid is effective at far lower concentrations than previously reported and concluded that it is “a potential alternative to antibiotics and traditional antimicrobial dressings for preventing colonisation of burns, and may have a role in the management of burns in both developed and especially developing countries.”

Another study, in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that that vinegar could also help fight ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that research suggests is related to the gut microbiome.

The Chinese scientists found that vinegar suppressed inflammation-inducing proteins while improving the gut’s bacterial makeup in mice regular doses of vinegar reduced the levels of bacteria-produced proteins in the stomachs of lab mice.

The researchers behind the current study, who looked looked at a big variety of vinegars including including several Chinese and Japanese fermented vinegars, Italian balsamic vinegar, and other fruit vinegars conclude that: “Owing to its properties and components, vinegar is not just an acidic condiment, several types of vinegars, especially those produced through traditional fermentation technologies…could be developed into functional foods.”

• For more on this topic see our article The healthful properties of vinegar. See also our articles on the benefits of fermented foods.