Guse, Kylene2023-09-192023-09-192023-05https://hdl.handle.net/11299/256992University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2023. Major: Nutrition. Advisor: Andres Gomez. 1 computer file (PDF); vi, 141 pages.There has been a recent surge in both the production and consumption of fermented foods in Western culture. Particularly, lacto-fermented vegetables (LFVs) such as sauerkraut, kimchi and other fermented vegetables have become popular due to their proposed health benefits, including potential probiotic effects in the gut microbiome. However, there is limited data on the mechanisms by which LFV exerts health benefits. This thesis documents how LFV can impact human health by analyzing microbiomes from a systems perspective; from microbes in the soil, to fermented vegetables, to the human gut and even human culture.enFermented Foodslacto-fermented vegetablesMicrobiomeprobioticThesis or Dissertation