About this Research Topic
Fermented Food Products are foods that undergo fermentation processes, conferring specific organoleptic properties. These fermentations may be natural or may be conducted by microorganisms specifically added for that purpose.
These microorganisms are known as starters or starter cultures, which are individual or mixed microbial cultures used in known concentrations to promote and conduct the fermentation of food products. The use of starters may contribute to enhance organoleptic characteristics, and to the standardization of food products, but also to their safety.
Food safety can be defined as the hygiene procedures undertaken to preserve the quality of food products and prevent their contamination. Food safety deals with the handling, preparation, and storage of food to prevent foodborne diseases.
The aim of this Research Topic is to address the role of starter cultures on the quality and safety of fermented food products.
Starter cultures are mainly used in fermented food products for their ability to promote food safety, mainly due to their antimicrobial activity against spoilage microorganisms and foodborne pathogens, such as Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), or Staphylococcus aureus, among others. Starters may also play a decisive role on the quality of fermented products, ensuring product standardization and uniform manufacturing batches. Moreover, they can contribute to the development or enhance particular sensory characteristics of the food product.
How may the use of starters contribute to the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) of the United Nation 2030 Agenda? And to which specific SDGs?
This Research Topic will focus on studies dealing with the role of starters in food safety and welcomes original articles, and reviews or mini reviews, covering, but not limited to, the following sub-themes:
- Microbiota involved in food fermentations
- Selection of technological, protective, and probiotic starter cultures and safety related concerns
- Metagenomics and metabolomics of fermented food products
- Genomic characterization of microorganisms with technological interest for fermented food products, including lactic acid bacteria, coagulase negative staphylococci, or yeasts, among others
- Bacteriocins and other mechanisms involved in growth inhibition of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms
- Effects of technological procedures in the microbioma of fermented food products (new technologies for pathogens and spoilage control)
- Opportunities to use fermentative microorganisms improving specific sensory or organoleptic characteristics, namely those associated to clean label products
- Traditional and ethnic fermented food products, their microbiota and manufacturing processes.
These microorganisms are known as starters or starter cultures, which are individual or mixed microbial cultures used in known concentrations to promote and conduct the fermentation of food products. The use of starters may contribute to enhance organoleptic characteristics, and to the standardization of food products, but also to their safety.
Food safety can be defined as the hygiene procedures undertaken to preserve the quality of food products and prevent their contamination. Food safety deals with the handling, preparation, and storage of food to prevent foodborne diseases.
The aim of this Research Topic is to address the role of starter cultures on the quality and safety of fermented food products.
Starter cultures are mainly used in fermented food products for their ability to promote food safety, mainly due to their antimicrobial activity against spoilage microorganisms and foodborne pathogens, such as Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), or Staphylococcus aureus, among others. Starters may also play a decisive role on the quality of fermented products, ensuring product standardization and uniform manufacturing batches. Moreover, they can contribute to the development or enhance particular sensory characteristics of the food product.
How may the use of starters contribute to the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) of the United Nation 2030 Agenda? And to which specific SDGs?
This Research Topic will focus on studies dealing with the role of starters in food safety and welcomes original articles, and reviews or mini reviews, covering, but not limited to, the following sub-themes:
- Microbiota involved in food fermentations
- Selection of technological, protective, and probiotic starter cultures and safety related concerns
- Metagenomics and metabolomics of fermented food products
- Genomic characterization of microorganisms with technological interest for fermented food products, including lactic acid bacteria, coagulase negative staphylococci, or yeasts, among others
- Bacteriocins and other mechanisms involved in growth inhibition of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms
- Effects of technological procedures in the microbioma of fermented food products (new technologies for pathogens and spoilage control)
- Opportunities to use fermentative microorganisms improving specific sensory or organoleptic characteristics, namely those associated to clean label products
- Traditional and ethnic fermented food products, their microbiota and manufacturing processes.
Keywords: starters, food safety, microbiome, foodborne pathogens, metagenomics, metabolomics, antimicrobial resistance
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
