ABSTRACT
Food is the basic survival necessity for all human beings, and the traditional methods of food processing were aimed at food preservation and economy of fuel (Sarkar and Nout 2014; Steinkraus, 1996), so food fermentation methods arose historically from the need for processing and preservation food (Law et al., 2011; Ravyts et al., 2012). More than anything else, man has been employing microbes for the preparation of fermented food products for thousands of years. All over the world, a wide range of fermented foods and beverages are produced, which contribute signicantly to the diets of many people (Achi, 2005a,b; Campbell-Platt, 1994; Steinkraus, 1994; 2004). Fermentation and drying are the oldest methods of food preservation and processing. It gives food a variety of avors, tastes, textures, sensory attributes, and nutritional and therapeutic values (Metha and Kamal-Eldin, 2012). e availability of storable and hygienically safe food was a decisive prerequisite for the development of mankind and society (Prajapati and Nair, 2003). e skills of food fermentation are embedded in traditional knowledge systems among the native peoples of many areas of the world, and the knowledge is maintained and propagated orally. e art of fermentation practiced by the common man has continued, in spite of the scientic and technological revolution, but has largely remained conned to the rural and tribal areas due to (i) high cost or inaccessibility of the industry-made products in remote areas, (ii) the tastes of the people for the traditional fermented products, and (iii) their socio-cultural linkages with such products (Chelule et al., 2010; akur et al., 2004). However, with the advent of microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and biochemical engineering, the art of fermentation practiced by the common man has been improved and upgraded, which has led to the rise of fermentation industries, adding quality and expanding the range of products (akur et al., 2004).
