ABSTRACT
This chapter presents information on research priorities in the application of biotechnology to indigenous food fermentations of the developing countries, the majority of which lie within the tropics. The presentation includes developing and improving scientific and technological knowledge of the fermentation processes and the benefits and problems associated with industrialisation of traditional fermentation processes. Indigenous or traditional fermented foods form an essential part of the diet of many people in developing countries, and biotechnology is known to have originated with such traditional food fermentations. Fermented foods are made from plant and animal materials by processes in which micro-organisms play an active role in modifying the starting material physically, nutritionally and organoleptically. Biotechnology may be categorised as low-, intermediate- or high-level. The input for low level biotechnology, also known as village level technology, is a simple capital investment with simple, indigenous equipment. Biotechnology at low and intermediate levels for indigenous food fermentations could have wider applications in many developing countries.
