Original title: Review: Diversity of Microorganisms in Global Fermented Foods and Beverages
Microbes naturally ferment many foods and drinks around the world. Some are hard to grow in a lab, so researchers can miss them if they look only for microbes they can culture. The review describes culture-independent methods that can reveal more kinds of microbes. It also notes that a microbe’s RNA can show whether it is active in a food, while DNA detection alone may not.
Imagine making bread with a group of helpers, some of whom are easy to spot and others who stay hidden. A head count can tell you who is present, but not who is actually kneading the dough. In this paper, DNA is the head count, while mRNA can help show which microbes are active in a fermenting food.
For food microbiologists, finding which microbes are active in traditional foods could reveal strains with useful properties that have not yet been discovered. It also helps document the microbial diversity in foods that carry cultural value.
The abstract describes a review of some fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, not a complete survey of all global fermentations. It does not report specific microbes, methods, or comparative results, and it does not establish the functions or practical value of any undiscovered strains.
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Review: Diversity of Microorganisms in Global Fermented Foods and Beverages — Jyoti Prakash Tamang, Koichi Watanabe, Wilhelm Heinrich Holzapfel — Frontiers in Microbiology — doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00377
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.