Starter cultures and cereal-based fermented food

5 Starter cultures and cereal-based fermented food 

The use of probiotic LAB, especially Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp., as starter cultures, alone or in combination with traditional starter cultures in various fermentation processes, has been explored for different fermentation food products. Formulated fermented probiotic food may present consumers with a healthy dietary component at a considerabley low cost (Goldin, 1998). Furthermore, it was reported that LAB may contribute to microbiological safety and/or provide one or more technological, nutritional and organoleptic advantages to a fermented product, through production of ethanol, acetic acid, aroma compounds, exopolysaccharides, bacteriocins and several enzymes (Leroy De Vuyst, 2004). 

However, when considering the use of probiotic strains as functional starters or co-cultures, it is important that they do not enhance acidification and thereby reduce the shelf-life of the product, and that they do not have adverse effects on the aroma or taste of the product (Heller, 2001). Uncertainty still exists as to whether multifunctional strains possessing all desirable metabolic features would result from modem isolation techniques and selection procedures. Therefore, recent studies focus on the improvement of selected strains by the application of recombinant DNA technology. By its application, certain beneficial features, such as health-promoting properties, accelerated acid production, wholesomeness and overproduction of specific enzymes or bacteriocins can be improved (Holzapfel, 2002). Gene disruption may be used to 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , ]

See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , ]

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