Year: 2007
Type: editorial
Abstract: Many microorganisms isolated and characterized during the past century have received considerable attention from the pharmaceutical and/or food fermentation industry because of their potential biotechnological interest.Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), particularly those belonging to beneficial and nonpathogenic genera (Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, and Streptococcus), have traditionally been used in the food industry.They also play an essential role in the dairy industry due to the tremendous level of human consumption of several important fermented products, mainly cheese and acidified/fermented milks.In the USA, more than 4.6 million tons of cheese and more than 1.3 million tons of yogurt were produced in 2005 [1], whereas in the European Community (EU-25) more than 8 million tons of cheese and 6.9 million tons of acidified/fermented milk were produced in 2003 [3].These figures correspond to a global sales value that surpasses US$ 28.44 billion, with the global sales value of cheese representing about 30% of total dairy-product sales [2].Nowadays, more than 500 kinds of cheese are manufactured worldwide, and the many varieties are derived from modifications in cheese-making techniques.However, the fermentation process whereby milk is transformed into cheese has not changed to any great extent since humans discovered the process as a means of preserving food (the fermentation of milk dates back to ~3000 BC).Cheese is a dynamic biochemical product and, unlike many processed food products for which stability is essential, it undergoes significant changes during ripening.The unripe curds of many varieties of cheese have bland and largely similar flavors.However, the sequential actions of cheese microbiota and the interactions among the different microorganisms during the ripening period result in the flavor compounds that characterize each variety.Acidifying lactococci species usually occur as dominant bacteria early in the ripening process.Afterwards their numbers decrease as they give
Source: PubMed
Author: José I Garabal
Language: English
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1805425733