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Journal ArticleDOI

Lactic acid bacteria as functional starter cultures for the food fermentation industry

01 Feb 2004-Trends in Food Science and Technology (Elsevier)-Vol. 15, Iss: 2, pp 67-78
TL;DR: New starter cultures of lactic acid bacteria with an industrially important functionality are being developed that can contribute to the microbial safety or offer one or more organoleptic, technological, nutritional, or health advantages.
Abstract: The production of fermented foods is based on the use of starter cultures, for instance lactic acid bacteria that initiate rapid acidification of the raw material. Recently, new starter cultures of lactic acid bacteria with an industrially important functionality are being developed. The latter can contribute to the microbial safety or offer one or more organoleptic, technological, nutritional, or health advantages. Examples are lactic acid bacteria that produce antimicrobial substances, sugar polymers, sweeteners, aromatic compounds, vitamins, or useful enzymes, or that have probiotic properties.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The DNA-based methods that are available to detect/quantify spoilage bacteria, and relevant metabolic pathways in cheeses are reviewed and it is highlighted how these strategies can be employed to improve cheese quality and reduce the associated economic burden on cheese processors.
Abstract: The microbial profile of cheese is a primary determinant of cheese quality. Microorganisms can contribute to aroma and taste defects, form biogenic amines, cause gas and secondary fermentation defects, and can contribute to cheese pinking and mineral deposition issues. These defects may be as a result of seasonality and the variability in the composition of the milk supplied, variations in cheese processing parameters, as well as the nature and number of the non-starter microorganisms which come from the milk or other environmental sources. Such defects can be responsible for production and product recall costs and thus represent a significant economic burden for the dairy industry worldwide. Traditional non-molecular approaches are often considered biased and have inherently slow turnaround times. Molecular techniques can provide early and rapid detection of defects that result from the presence of specific spoilage microbes and, ultimately, assist in enhancing cheese quality and reducing costs. Here we review the DNA-based methods that are available to detect/quantify spoilage bacteria, and relevant metabolic pathways in cheeses and, in the process, highlight how these strategies can be employed to improve cheese quality and reduce the associated economic burden on cheese processors.

1,437 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The highly promising results of these studies underline the important role that functional, bacteriocinogenic LAB strains may play in the food industry as starter cultures, co-cultures, or bioprotective cultures, to improve food quality and safety.
Abstract: In fermented foods, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) display numerous antimicrobial activities. This is mainly due to the production of organic acids, but also of other compounds, such as bacteriocins and antifungal peptides. Several bacteriocins with industrial potential have been purified and characterized. The kinetics of bacteriocin production by LAB in relation to process factors have been studied in detail through mathematical modeling and positive predictive microbiology. Application of bacteriocin-producing starter cultures in sourdough (to increase competitiveness), in fermented sausage (anti-listerial effect), and in cheese (anti-listerial and anti-clostridial effects), have been studied during in vitro laboratory fermentations as well as on pilot-scale level. The highly promising results of these studies underline the important role that functional, bacteriocinogenic LAB strains may play in the food industry as starter cultures, co-cultures, or bioprotective cultures, to improve food quality and safety. In addition, antimicrobial production by probiotic LAB might play a role during in vivo interactions occurring in the human gastrointestinal tract, hence contributing to gut health.

661 citations


Cites background from "Lactic acid bacteria as functional ..."

  • ...Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have a long history of application in fermented foods because of their beneficial influence on nutritional, organoleptic, and shelf-life characteristics [ ,...

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is concern that the presence of antibiotic residues in milk leads to the development of resistance, particularly among pathogenic bacteria, and the approaches, both culture-dependent and culture-independent, which can be taken to investigate the microbial composition of milk are compared.
Abstract: Here, we review what is known about the microorganisms present in raw milk, including milk from cows, sheep, goats and humans. Milk, due to its high nutritional content, can support a rich microbiota. These microorganisms enter milk from a variety of sources and, once in milk, can play a number of roles, such as facilitating dairy fermentations (e.g. Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Propionibacterium and fungal populations), causing spoilage (e.g. Pseudomonas, Clostridium, Bacillus and other spore-forming or thermoduric microorganisms), promoting health (e.g. lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) or causing disease (e.g. Listeria, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter and mycotoxin-producing fungi). There is also concern that the presence of antibiotic residues in milk leads to the development of resistance, particularly among pathogenic bacteria. Here, we comprehensively review these topics, while comparing the approaches, both culture-dependent and culture-independent, which can be taken to investigate the microbial composition of milk.

597 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review provides the current status in the research of proteolytic systems of LAB with industrial relevance and indicates that the current knowledge on stress-related proteolysis in LAB is almost exclusively based on studies on L. lactis.
Abstract: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have a very long history of use in the manufacturing processes of fermented foods and a great deal of effort was made to investigate and manipulate the role of LAB in these processes. Today, the diverse group of LAB includes species that are among the best-studied microorganisms and proteolysis is one of the particular physiological traits of LAB of which detailed knowledge was obtained. The proteolytic system involved in casein utilization provides cells with essential amino acids during growth in milk and is also of industrial importance due to its contribution to the development of the organoleptic properties of fermented milk products. For the most extensively studied LAB, Lactococcus lactis, a model for casein proteolysis, transport, peptidolysis, and regulation thereof is now established. In addition to nutrient processing, cellular proteolysis plays a critical role in polypeptide quality control and in many regulatory circuits by keeping basal levels of regulatory proteins low and removing them when they are no longer needed. As part of the industrial processes, LAB are challenged by various stress conditions that are likely to affect metabolic activities, including proteolysis. While environmental stress responses of LAB have received increasing interest in recent years, our current knowledge on stress-related proteolysis in LAB is almost exclusively based on studies on L. lactis. This review provides the current status in the research of proteolytic systems of LAB with industrial relevance.

576 citations


Cites background from "Lactic acid bacteria as functional ..."

  • ...LAB were found to have applications in manufacturing various fermented foods, beverages, and feed products (Leroy and Devuyst 2004)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Functional starter cultures offer an additional functionality compared to classical starter cultures and represent a way of improving and optimising the sausage fermentation process and achieving tastier, safer, and healthier products.

556 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Toxicity data exist for only a few bacteriocins, but research and their long-time intentional use strongly suggest that bacteriOCins can be safely used.

1,782 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of lactic acid bacteria in many such fermentations and the mechanisms of antibiosis with particular reference to bacteriocins are outlined and a brief description of some important fermented foods from various countries are given.

1,013 citations

Book
01 Jun 1985
TL;DR: This book discussesFermented Protein Foods in the Orient: Shoyu and Miso in Japan, and potential Infective and Toxic Microbiological Hazards Associated with the Consumption of Fermented Foods.
Abstract: Vinegar. The Microbiology of Vegetable Fermentations. The Silage Fermentation. Fermentative Upgrading of Wastes for Animal Feeding. Cocoa, Coffee and Tea. Thickeners of Microbial Origin. Bread and Baker's Yeast . Sourdough Breads and Related Products. The Microbiology of Alcoholic Beverages. Cheeses. Fermented Milks. Fermented Protein Foods in the Orient: Shoyu and Miso in Japan. Fermented Fish and Fish Products. Fermented Sausages. Protein-rich Foods Based on Fermented Vegetables. Food Flavour from Yeast. Biology and Technology of Mushroom Culture. Algae as Food . Bio-Enrichment of Fermented Foods: Production of Vitamins in Fermented Foods. Production of Industrial Enzymes and Some Applications in Fermented Foods . Koji. Food Fermentation in the Tropics. African Fermented Foods. Fermented Foods of the Indian Sub-Continent. Fermented Weaning Foods. Potential Infective and Toxic Microbiological Hazards Associated with the Consumption of Fermented Foods. The Impact of Genetic Engineering on Food and Beverage Fermentations. Index

792 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Suggestions are made for strain improvement, enhanced productivities and advanced modification and production processes that may contribute to the economic soundness of applications with this promising group of biomolecules.
Abstract: Microbial exopolysaccharides are biothickeners that can be added to a wide variety of food products, where they serve as viscosifying, stabilizing, emulsifying or gelling agents. Numerous exopolysaccharides with different composition, size and structure are synthesized by lactic acid bacteria. The heteropolysaccharides from both mesophilic and thermophilic lactic acid bacteria have received renewed interest recently. Structural analysis combined with rheological studies revealed that there is considerable variation among the different exopolysaccharides; some of them exhibit remarkable thickening and shear-thinning properties and display high intrinsic viscosities. Hence, several slime-producing lactic acid bacterium strains and their biopolymers have interesting functional and technological properties, which may be exploited towards different products, in particular, natural fermented milks. However, information on the biosynthesis, molecular organization and fermentation conditions is rather scarce, and the kinetics of exopolysaccharide formation are poorly described. Moreover, the production of exopolysaccharides is low and often unstable, and their downstream processing is difficult. This review particularly deals with microbiological, biochemical and technological aspects of heteropolysaccharides from, and their production by, lactic acid bacteria. The chemical composition and structure, the biosynthesis, genetics and molecular organization, the nutritional and physiological aspects, the process technology, and both food additive and in situ applications (in particular in yogurt) of heterotype exopolysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria are described. Where appropriate, suggestions are made for strain improvement, enhanced productivities and advanced modification and production processes (involving enzyme and/or fermentation technology) that may contribute to the economic soundness of applications with this promising group of biomolecules.

782 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Developments in this area have recently undergone a major revolution through the development of a range of molecular techniques, which enable rapid identification of individual isolates to species and strain level and should lead to major advances in understanding this complex microbial ecosystem and its impact on cheese ripening and quality in the coming years.

743 citations