Microbiology and Health Benefits of Traditional Alcoholic Beverages is an interdisciplinary reference for students, researchers, and academics studying anthropology and food and beverage science, especially those with interest in fermentation. Fermented beverages and alcoholic drinks are culturally and socially accepted products for consumption, drinking, entertainment, as well as for customary practices and religious purposes. Due to variation in substrates, climatic conditions, geographical locations and ethnicity, a colossal diversity of microbial community as well as major domains have been reported in the different varieties of fermented beverages of the world. This book covers the cultural context of these beverages along with their biochemistry, health benefits, and therapeutic uses. Topics include winemaking, malting and brewing of wine and beer, and culturally specific beverages and practices such as fermented palm beverages and agave. - Profiles the microbial community as well as major domains by metagenomics in traditional fermented beverages - Covers the chemical profiles and health benefits of alcoholic products - Presents the latest status of some industrialized alcoholic beverages such as saké of Japan, mackgeolli of Korea, baijiu of China, toddy of India, pulque of Mexico, wine, beer, etc.

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.

Asia has a long history of preparation and consumption of various types of ethnic fermented foods and alcoholic beverages based on available raw substrates of plant or animal sources and also depending on agro-climatic conditions of the regions. Diversity of functional microorganisms in Asian ethnic fermented foods and alcoholic beverages consists of bacteria (Lactic acid bacteria and Bacillus species, micrococcii, etc.), amylolytic and alcohol-producing yeasts and filamentous moulds. Though there are hundreds of research articles, review papers, and limited books on fermented foods and beverages, the present book: Ethnic Fermented Foods and Alcoholic Beverages of Asia is the first of this kind on compilation of various ethnic fermented foods and alcoholic beverages of Asia. This book has fifteen chapters covering different types of ethnic fermented foods and alcoholic beverages of Asia. Some of the authors are well-known scientists and researchers with vast experiences in the field of fermented foods and beverages who include Prof. Tek Chand Bhalla, Dr. Namrata Thapa (India), Prof. Yearul Kabir and Dr. Mahmud Hossain (Bangladesh), Prof. Tika Karki (Nepal), Dr. Saeed Akhtar (Pakistan), Prof. Sagarika Ekanayake (Sri Lanka), Dr. Werasit Sanpamongkolchai (Thailand), Prof. Sh. Demberel (Mongolia), Dr. Yoshiaki Kitamura, Dr. Ken-Ichi Kusumoto, Dr. Yukio Magariyama, Dr. Tetsuya Oguma, Dr. Toshiro Nagai, Dr. Soichi Furukawa, Dr. Chise Suzuki, Dr. Masataka Satomi, Dr. Kazunori Takamine, Dr. Naonori Tamaki and Dr. Sota Yamamoto (Japan), Prof. Dong-Hwa Shin, Prof. Cherl-Ho Lee, Dr. Young-Myoung Kim, Dr. Wan-Soo Park Dr. Jae-Ho Kim (South Korea) Dr. Maryam Tajabadi Ebrahimi (Iran), Dr. Francisco B. Elegado (Philippines), Prof. Ingrid Suryanti Surono (Indonesia), Dr. Vu Nguyen Thanh (Vietnam). Researchers, students, teachers, nutritionists, dieticians, food entrepreneurs, agriculturalist, government policy makers, ethnologists, sociologists and electronic media persons may read this book who keep interest on biological importance of Asian fermented foods and beverages.

The magnificent Himalayan Mountains, the highest in the world and home to the famed Mount Everest and K2, are also imbued with a rich diversity of ethnic fermented foods. Dr. Jyoti Prakash Tamang, one of the leading authorities on food microbiology, has studied Himalayan fermented foods and beverages for the last twenty-two years. His comprehensive