Description

Fermented foods and beverages are part of our daily dietary routine across the world. Research on fermented foods and beverages have proved to be a huge source of both culturable and unculturable microbiota resources. The sustainable use of microorganisms in foods fermentation is generally based on the relation between the traditional knowledge of foods fermentation and the basic understanding of the microbial background of fermentation. Diverse forms of microbial community including bacteria, yeasts and fungi are present in fermented foods and beverages, which may be produced either naturally or by adding starter culture(s). With the rapid application of culture independent techniques using next generation sequencing (NGS) tools, more new genera and species of microorganisms are reported from many ethnic fermented foods and beverages which have changed the paradigm of classical microbiology to metageomics and omic concepts.

Microorganisms depend on relevant substrates for survival and produce bioactive compounds that enrich the human diet, thereby promoting health benefits to consumers. Some health-promoting benefits of fermented foods and beverages are: prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancer, hepatic disease, gastrointestinal disorders and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as protection from hypertension, thrombosis, osteoporosis, allergic reactions, diabetes, spoilage and toxic pathogens, reduction of obesity, increase immunity, alleviation of lactose intolerance, and anti-aging effects. Increased understanding of the viability of probiotic bacteria, interactions between gut microbiota, diet and the host has opened up new possibilities of producing new ingredients for nutritionally optimized foods, which can promote consumers’ health through microbial activities in the gut.

The present Research Topic aims to collect original research and review papers on latest use of NGS, including metagenomics and other omics in microbiology, with regard to research focusing on the health-benefits of fermented foods and beverages from researchers working in the field of food microbiology.