Molecular Techniques in Food Biology

Safety, Biotechnology, Authenticity and Traceability

Aly Farag El Sheikha, Robert E. Levin, Jianping Xu, Aly Farag El Sheikha, Robert E. Levin, Jianping Xu

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781119374602
• eBook ISBN: 9781119374619
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Molecular Techniques in Food Biology: Safety, Biotechnology, Authenticity & Traceability explores all aspects of microbe-food interactions, especially as they pertain to food safety. Traditional morphological, physiological, and biochemical techniques for the detection, differentiation, and identification of microorganisms have severe limitations. As an alternative, many of those responsible for monitoring food safety are turning to molecular tools for identifying foodborne microorganisms. This book reviews the latest molecular techniques for detecting, identifying, and tracing microorganisms in food, addressing both good foodborne microbes, such as those used for fermentation and in probiotics, and harmful ones responsible for foodborne illness and food quality control problems.

Molecular Techniques in Food Biology: Safety, Biotechnology, Authenticity & Traceability brings together contributions by leading international authorities in food biology from academe, industry, and government. Chapters cover food microbiology, food mycology, biochemistry, microbial ecology, food biotechnology and bio-processing, food authenticity, food origin traceability, and food science and technology. Throughout, special emphasis is placed on novel molecular techniques relevant to food biology research and for monitoring and assessing food safety and quality.

• Brings together contributions from scientists at the leading edge of the revolution in molecular food biology
• Explores how molecular techniques can satisfy the dire need to deepen our understanding of how microbial communities develop in foods of all types and in all forms
• Covers all aspects of food safety and hygiene, microbial ecology, food biotechnology and bio-processing, food authenticity, food origin traceability, and more
• Fills a yawning gap in the world literature on food traceability using molecular techniques

This book is an important working resource for professionals in agricultural, food science, biomedicine, and government involved in food regulation and safety. It is also an excellent reference for advanced students in agriculture, food science and food technology, biochemistry, microbiology, and biotechnology, as well as academic researchers in those fields.

Section IV
Fermented Foods and Beverages

10
Revolution in Fermented Foods: From Artisan Household Technology to the Era of Biotechnology

Aly Farag El Sheikha^1,2

¹ Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

² Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Science and Technology, Minufiya University, Minufiya Government, Egypt

10.1 Introduction

Sadness and good food are incompatible.

(Charles Simic, poet)

Since time immemorial, human civilization had a close relationship which brought together humans and microorganisms which appeared in several forms, most notably fermented foods. Fermented foods are defined as those products that use the direct and/or indirect effect of microorganisms to cause desirable biochemical changes. The microbial flora responsible for the fermentation may be the microbiota indigenously present on the raw materials, or they may be added as starter cultures (Katongole 2008; Ray & Joshi 2014).

Originally, artisan technology was a way to prepare fermented foods, of course without any knowledge of the microorganisms’ role. However, by the middle of the 19th century, two turning points changed the way of conducting and understanding the fermentation process. First, the Industrial Revolution in Europe resulted in the concentration of large masses of people in towns and cities. Consequently, food had to be prepared in large quantities, requiring commercialization of the manufacturing process. Secondly, understanding of the biological basis of the fermentation process spread as a result of a boom in microbiology as a science in the 1850s (Caplice & Fitzgerald 1999). Since then, work ha been ongoing in the area of industrial production of fermented products all over the world (Katongole 2008).

Raw materials are converted to fermented products using microorganisms or enzymes. In plant science, breeding is conducted to reduce toxic or antinutritional components of plant or plant part(s), or to increase the protein or vitamin content. Additionally, it has been valuable to identify microorganisms that can synthesize necessary ingredients (e.g., essential amino acids, vitamins) that can be added to food for biofortification for populations where malnutrition is a problem (National Research Council 1992). Desirable traits for these microorganisms can be summarized as follows:

• ability to produce flavor components that enrich these foods for traditional and new markets
• capability to break down antinutritional factors (e.g., phytic acid) present in some substrates
• production of enzymes to utilize/degrade wastes as substrates
• ability to detoxify toxins and other undesirable secondary products
• thermotolerance and osmotolerance in solid substrate fermentation processes, which are two essential features.

Food fermentations frequently result in the production of alcohol, antibiotics, or other substances that can improve the safety and shelf‐life of fermented products by inhibiting the growth of undesirable microorganisms. As a result, modern societies felt a need to transform the traditional art into technological processes to incorporate objective methods of process control and optimization, and to standardize the quality of the final products without losing their desirable traits. Only when conditions such as time, temperature, pH, substrate pretreatment, inoculum‐substrate ratio, and so forth are controlled can fermentation can be optimized; because of the surface/volume relationships, the scale‐up of solid‐state fermentation is particularly challenging. Solid‐state reactions can be valuable to reduce raw material losses. Equipment with specific surface characteristics such as semi‐porous clay, charred wood, gourds, etc, is a critical challenge to the improvement of some traditional fermentation processes. Research is also needed on the development of continuous fermentations using bioreactors (Sasikumar 2014).

This chapter highlights the answers to many questions, such as:

• Where and when did fermentation begin?
• Is the fermented food from the past different from the food of the present era?
• What is the relation between fermented foods and probiotics?
• With the escalation of food safety crises, is it possible to trace the origin of fermented foods?
• What is the future of fermented foods?

10.2 Historical View: Where and When Did Fermentation Start?

In the period 3000–4000 BC, ancient Egyptians and Babylonians produced bread and beer. It is worth mentioning that the rise of civilizations in the Mediterranean region coincided with the production and consumption of some fermented products such as wine. Remarkably, the fermented foods consumed in China, Japan, and the Far East were different from those in the Middle East although fermentation appeared around the same time (Haaland 2007; McGovern et al. 2004).

The practice of fermentation was widespread during the Roman period, where new technologies as well as new raw materials were used throughout the Empire. The importance of fermented foods arose from the army’s need for foods stored for extended periods of time. In addition, it is not surprising that consumption of beer and wine was preferred over water, but the question is why? At that time, the water was probably contaminated with fecal or other wastes. Also in this era, an evolution occurred in the level of trade in many food industries, including cheese, wine, and bread, especially in the Mediterran...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Section I: General Topics
• Section II: Fruits and Vegetables
• Section III: Fish and Meat Products (Non‐Fermented)
• Section IV: Fermented Foods and Beverages
• Section V: Foodborne Pathogens and Food Safety
• Section VI: Future Perspectives
• Index
• End User License Agreement