Gerobiotics can stop diseases caused by ageing: CFTRI director

She was presiding over a two-day national workshop on ‘Gerobiotic supplementation through fermented millet beverage and millet curd’ at the CSIR-CFTRI in Mysuru that had over 90 participants from various parts of India

Dr Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director, CSIR-CFTRI emphasised that fermentation may be the possible solution for reduction of anti-nutrient factors in millets while highlighting their benefits and their potential anti-ageing role.

Even though microbes are small, their benefits are numerous as many new fields are emerging as a part of microbiology, such as probiotic, prebiotic, postbiotic, parabiotics and now gerobiotics.

She was presiding over a two-day national workshop on ‘Gerobiotic supplementation through fermented millet beverage and millet curd’ at the CSIR-CFTRI in Mysuru that had over 90 participants from various parts of India.

Dr Singh appreciated organising the workshop, considering the need of people to know more about gerobiotics because of the increase in the number of diseases caused by ageing, which can be prevented with gerobiotics.

Dr. Prakash M. Halami, organising secretary and head of Microbiology and Fermentation Technology, in his welcome speech, explained about the CSIR-CFTRI’s involvement in celebration of the International Year of Millet 2023, besides the importance of organising a workshop with reference to millets for gerobiotics supplementation.

Dr. B. Sesikeran, former director, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad and former RC member of CSIR-CFTRI spoke about gut microbiome-ageing and probiotics. “Ageing is a complex process associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and gut health would also change with age, and possibly prebiotics and probiotics could be part of natural healthy ageing.”

Prof. Ramesh Sharma, former dean, life sciences, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, spoke about calorie restriction as an anti-ageing intervention with emphasis on gut microbiome, and correlation between longevity and brain size.