Possible Uses of Lactic acid Bacteria for Food and Feed Production

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are generally fastidious on artificiall media, but they grow readily in most food substrates and lower the pH rapidly to a point where competing organisms are no longer able to grow. Spontaneous fermentation of food/feed may differ from each other in terms of environmental microbiota and fermentable substrate. Spontaneous fermentation may fail, because it is not possible to ensure the same quality of the end product. However, spontaneously fermented products represent a source of LAB with potential interesting functional and technological properties, and the choice of the starter cultures has a critical impact on the palatability, processability, nutritional attributes, sustainability, and safety of food and feed.