About this Research Topic

Background

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a heterogeneous group of microorganisms used as starter, adjunct and/or probiotic cultures for the production of many fermented and functional foods. Metabolism of LAB improves shelf-life, organoleptic and nutritional properties of foods. The industrial potential of LAB, however, is much wider and many strains have been exploited as microbial cell factories for the production of different value-added compounds, such as food ingredients, nutraceuticals, antimicrobial compounds, bioactive peptides. In the last decades, several metabolic strategies, based on DNA manipulation or on evolutionary adaptation, were used to reroute and improve metabolic production and fitness of LAB. Omics approaches, moreover, contributed to understanding the metabolic features and regulation of LAB.

Although LAB are widely exploited as starter and/or adjunct cultures in the production of many fermented foods, some aspects of their metabolism during fermentative processes need to be still elucidated. The exploitation of strains as producers and carries of bioactive compounds, moreover, may increase the range of functional foods. LAB are gaining interest also as bio-factories for the production of others industrial relevant metabolites (e.g. biopolymers, biofuels, therapeutic molecules) but, compared to other microorganisms, their genetic and metabolic features as delivery cells needs further investigations.

This Topic will focus on the identification of novel metabolites, in order to understand and expand the applicative potential of LAB. Specifically, the ability to produce green chemicals and biofuels, building blocks for bioplastics, enzymes and therapeutic precursors will be investigated. Metabolic networks for primary and secondary metabolites production, as well as the genetic and metabolic engineering strategies to improve the fitness of LAB as platform hosts will be also considered. We will, moreover, address the optimization of fermentative and downstream processes to produce and recover the bio-compounds. The ability of LAB to use the agri-food wastes (low-cost substrates) is another goal of this Topic.

We encourage submissions of Original Research papers and reviews that may contribute to progress in knowledge on the metabolism of LAB, focusing on the strategies to improve the production of high-value compounds to use in food, pharma and biochemical fields.

In particular, the submissions should focus on, but not limited to:
• Metabolism of LAB and functionality in fermented foods and beverages
• Mechanisms of regulation of LAB metabolism
• Natural strategies to improve metabolite(s) production in LAB
• Genetic engineering approaches to improve metabolite(s) production in LAB
• Omics approaches for the study of metabolic networks in LAB
• Bioprocesses for the production of high-value compounds in LAB
• Downstream processes for the recovery of metabolism LAB-derived compounds
• Exploitation of LAB-derived metabolites for food, pharma and biochemical applications
• Valorization of agri-food wastes through LAB metabolism

Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria, metabolic pathways, fermented foods, bio-compounds, flavour formation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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