ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the isolation, cultivation, taxonomy, diversity, oxidative products and applications of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) in Asia and related countries. On the identification of AAB in genus-level using phenotypic characteristics and chemotaxonomic characteristics is relatively easy when compared with species level identification. In Asian countries, China, and Japan, vinegars have long been used as traditional seasonings. Acetobacter pasteurianus strains spontaneously involved almost pure cultures during a century of vinegar fermentation, in China and Japan. AAB are obligate aerobic Gram-negative or Gram-variable, ellipsoidal to rod-shaped cells which are widespread in nature on various plants and fermented foods. They are important bacteria in food industry because of their ability to oxidize many types of sugars and alcohols to organic acids as end products during fermentation. The unique metabolism of the AAB, governed by their specialized enzymes, enables their use in food production, pharmaceutics, medicinal biotechnology, biosensorics, biotransformations, fine chemicals production, and alternative energy source production.
