Through four editions, Lactic Acid Bacteria: Microbiological and Functional Aspects, has provided readers with information on the how’s and why’s lactic acid-producing fermentation improves the storability, palatability, and nutritive value of perishable foods. Thoroughly updated and fully revised, with 12 new chapters, the Fifth Edition covers regulatory aspects globally, new findings on health effects, properties and stability of LAB as well as production of target specific LAB. The new edition also addresses the technological use of LAB in various fermentations of food, feed and beverage, and their safety considerations. It features the detailed description of the main genera of LAB as well as such novel bacteria as fructophilic LAB and novel probiotics and discusses such new targets as cognitive function, metabolic health, respiratory health and probiotics. Key Features: In 12 new chapters, findings are presented on health effects, properties and stability of LAB as well as production of target specific LAB Covers such novel bacteria as fructophilic LAB and novel probiotics Presents new discoveries related to the mechanisms of lactic acid bacterial metabolism and function Covers the benefits of LAB, both in fermentation of dairy, cereal, meat, vegetable and silage, and their health benefits on humans and animals Discusses the less-known role of LAB as food spoilers Covers the global regulatory framework related to safety and efficacy

In developing countries, traditional fermentation serves many purposes. It can improve the taste of an otherwise bland food, enhance the digestibility of a food that is difficult to assimilate, preserve food from degradation by noxious organisms, and increase nutritional value through the synthesis of essential amino acids and vitamins. Although "fermented food" has a vaguely distasteful ring, bread, wine, cheese, and yogurt are all familiar fermented foods. Less familiar are gari, ogi, idli, ugba, and other relatively unstudied but important foods in some African and Asian countries. This book reports on current research to improve the safety and nutrition of these foods through an elucidation of the microorganisms and mechanisms involved in their production. Also included are recommendations for needed research.

Despite advances in hygiene, food treatment, and food processing, diseases caused by foodborne pathogens continue to constitute a worldwide public health concern. Ensuring food safety to protect public health remains a significant challenge in both developing and developed nations. Food Safety and Human Health provides a framework to manage food safety risks and assure a safe food system. Political, economic, and ecological changes have led to the re-emergence of many foodborne pathogens. The globalization of food markets, for example, has increased the challenge to manage the microbial risks. This reference will help to identify potential new approaches in the development of new microbiologically safe foods that will aid in preventing food borne illness outbreaks and provides the basic principles of food toxicology, food processing, and food safety. Food Safety and Human Health is an essential resource to help students, researchers, and industry professionals understand and address day-to-day problems regarding food contamination and safety. - Encompasses the first pedagogic treatment of the entire range of toxic compounds found naturally in foods or introduced by industrial contaminatio - Identifies areas of vital concern to consumers, such as toxicological implications of food, and human health implications of food processing - Focuses on safety aspects of genetically modified foods and the range of processing techniques along with the important food safety laws

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have historically been used as starter cultures for the production of fermented foods, especially dairy products. Over recent years, new areas have had a strong impact on LAB studies: the application of omics tools; the study of complex microbial ecosystems, the discovery of new LAB species, and the use of LAB as powerhouses in the food and medical industries. This second edition of Biotechnology of Lactic Acid Bacteria: Novel Applications addresses the major advances in the fields over the last five years. Thoroughly revised and updated, the book includes new chapters. Among them: The current status of LAB systematics; The role of LAB in the human intestinal microbiome and the intestinal tract of animals and its impact on the health and disease state of the host; The involvement of LAB in fruit and vegetable fermentations; The production of nutraceuticals and aroma compounds by LAB; and The formation of biofilms by LAB. This book is an essential reference for established researchers and scientists, clinical and advanced students, university professors and instructors, nutritionists and food technologists working on food microbiology, physiology and biotechnology of lactic acid bacteria.

Enological Chemistry is written for the professional enologist tasked with finding the right balance of compounds to create or improve wine products. Related titles lack the appropriate focus for this audience, according to reviewers, failing either to be as comprehensive on the topic of chemistry, to include chemistry as part of the broader science of wine, or targeting a less scientific audience and including social and historical information not directly pertinent to the understanding of the role of chemistry in successful wine production. The topics in the book have been sequenced identically with the steps of the winemaking process. Thus, the book describes the most salient compounds involved in each vinification process, their properties and their balance; also, theoretical knowledge is matched with its practical application. The primary aim is to enable the reader to identify the specific compounds behind enological properties and processes, their chemical balance and their influence on the analytical and sensory quality of wine, as well as the physical, chemical and microbiological factors that affect their evolution during the winemaking process. - Organized according to the winemaking process, guiding reader clearly to application of knowledge - Describes the most salient compounds involved in each step enabling readers to identify the specific compounds behind properties and processes and effectively work with them - Provides both theoretical knowledge and practical application providing a strong starting point for further research and development

As antibacterial compounds, bacteriocins have always lived in the shadow of those medically important, efficient and often broad-spectrum low-molecular mass antimicrobials, well known even to laypeople as antibiotics. This is despite the fact that bacteriocins were discovered as early as 1928, a year before the penicillin saga started. Bacteriocins are antimicrobial proteins or oligopeptides, displaying a much narrower activity spectrum than antibiotics; they are mainly active against bacterial strains taxonomically closely related to the producer strain, which is usually immune to its own bacteriocin. They form a heterogenous group with regard to the taxonomy of the producing bacterial strains, mode of action, inhibitory spectrum and protein structure and composition. Best known are the colicins and microcins produced by Enterobacteriaceae. Many other Gram-negative as well as Gram-positive bacteria have now been found to produce bacteriocins. In the last decade renewed interest has focused on the bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria, which are industrially and agriculturally very important. Some of these compounds are even active against food spoilage bacteria and endospore formers and also against certain clinically important (food-borne) pathogens. Recently, bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria have been studied intensively from every possible scientific angle: microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and food technology. Intelligent screening is going on to find novel compounds with unexpected properties, just as has happened (and is still happening) with the antibiotics. Knowledge, especially about bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria, is accumulating very rapidly.