ABSTRACT
Fermentation is one of the oldest forms of food preservation technologies in the world. It is a desirable process of biochemical modication of raw material performed by microorganisms and their enzymes, and fermented foods make up an important contribution to human diets in many countries. Fermentation is an inexpensive technology that preserves foods through lactic acid, alcoholic, acetic acid, and alkaline fermentations; improves their nutritional value with proteins, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, and vitamins; and enhances their sensory properties through the development of a diversity of avors, aromas, and textures in food substrates (Marty and Kummar 1995; Steinkraus 1996). Fermentation may also lead to detoxication; destruction of undesirable factors present in raw
28.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 507 28.1.1 Fermented Food and Their Importance .......................................................................... 507
28.2 Microbial Diversity in Fermented Foods ..................................................................................... 508 28.2.1 Lactic Acid Bacteria ........................................................................................................ 509 28.2.2 Acetic Acid Bacteria .........................................................................................................512 28.2.3 Bacillus .............................................................................................................................513 28.2.4 Yeast .................................................................................................................................513
28.3 Methods Used to Analyze the Microbiota and Population Dynamics of Fermented Foods ........514 28.4 Role of Microbial Population in Fermented Foods .......................................................................515
