ABSTRACT
Fermented food products are essential dietary components for most people of South Asian countries, and are consumed in various forms as beverages, main dishes, or condiments, at aordable costs (Campbell-Platt, 1994). Man’s food and the fermentative activities of microorganisms have been intimately connected with each other since the beginning of human civilization, with respect to the production of fermented foods and beverages ( Joshi and Pandey 1999; Joshi et al., 1999a; Blandino et al., 2003). Many of the indigenous fermented foods are prepared by process of solid substrate fermentation, either by natural microora or by adding starter cultures involving molds, yeasts, or bacteria, including the Himalayas (Tamang, 1998). Several indigenous fermented foods are associated with therapeutic values such as in the folk medicines. (Anonymous FAO, 1997) in the ayurvedic system of medicine, extensive use is made of indigenous fermented foods, and such foods can be modied and future stratergies geared up to develop more of the foods with nutraceutical or functional and probiotic properties using fermentation technology. It is therefore, imperative to know the functional components of indigenous fermented foods and their eects on human health, especially the theraputic disease-combating eects, their bioactive molecules, mechanism of action, etc. Food fermentation has been reported to impart antimicrobial properties to a food product, thus making it safe to eat (Dewan, 2002; apa et al., 2006). All these aspects, along with other relevant issues, are discussed in this chapter.
