The Application of Starter Cultures in Food and Beverage Production

Dear Colleagues,

The microorganisms used during the preparation process of fermented foods and beverages define the quality of these products.

Therefore, the characterization and industrial use of yeast and lactic acid bacteria strains, called starters, are now a fundamental part of biotechnology applied to fermented food and beverage production. Starters (from the English, to start) are defined as microbial biomasses that, when added to a specific substrate, serve to drive a specific fermentation process. The advantages of their use are extensive: (i) they allow the obtainment of a final product with constant organoleptic characteristics; (ii) they allow the process to be conducted with greater rapidity; and (iii) they allow a particularly high initial inoculum, so as to dominate the fermentation process, avoiding the development of abnormal fermentations by undesirable microorganisms.

Recently, there has been an increase in the use of autochthonous or locally selected microbial strains to control fermentation. These strains are adapted to the specific productive conditions of typical food and beverages, and they are also able to efficiently control indigenous microflora during the fermentation process.

Indeed, there is a growing demand to select autochthonous novel yeast and bacteria strains that assure the maintenance and/or the improvement of typical sensory characteristics which could be considered representative of a typical fermented food or beverage.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect innovative investigations or review papers concerning the selection, characterization and exploitation of starter culture applicable at laboratory, pilot or industrial scale, that are capable of enhancing the quality, safety, reliability, and technological reproducibility of fermentative properties, as well as preserving biodiversity and peculiar sensory characteristics generally related to traditional fermented products. Particular interest will be dedicated to “wild” starter culture scientific studies and novel philosophies contributing to the harmonization of microbiological resources in the framework of typical, traditional, artisanal foods and geographical indications. 

Dr. Francesco Grieco
Dr. Vittorio Capozzi
Dr. Mariagiovanna Fragasso
Guest Editors

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• starter cultures
• autochthonous yeasts and bacteria
• fermented food and beverages
• microbial biodiversity
• food and beverage security
• microbial collections
• microbial ecology and terroir
• food and beverage quality
• traditional foods