Food Fermentation: Microbial Metabolism in Biofilms

Dear Colleagues,

Most microorganisms in nature, including bacteria and fungi, exist in the form of well-structured communities known as biofilms, with peculiar metabolic features compared to their planktonic counterparts.

In the food industry, the capability of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms (e.g., Listeria spp. and Bacillus spp.) to form biofilms causes some damaging effects, such as the reduction in equipment performances and lifetime. Moreover, food cross contamination affects food quality and safety, ultimately leading to health problems. The limited knowledge of efficient sanitizing methods makes treating these biofilms difficult. Eradication is even more complicated since food-associated bacteria or resident members of the flora (e.g., Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp.) can interact with major foodborne pathogenic bacteria, giving rise to multi-species biofilms.

Mono- and multi-species biofilms can also be formed by microorganisms, namely yeasts (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lactic acid bacteria, commonly used as starters in the fermentative processes. The exploitation of biofilms in the food industry is still an underexplored field but of growing interest. In this regard, biofilms can positively impact the microbial fermentation process since they protect food from lipid oxidation, gas, water and odour. Moreover, biofilm-mediated microbial fermentation possesses higher cell density and favours a continuous fermentation process, leading to higher value-added compound productivity.

The goal of the Special Issue is to provide insights into the role of biofilms in the food industry, considering that they can be both a challenge to address and a resource for enhancing the fermentation process. The main topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Changes in microbial metabolism/gene expression in the shift from planktonic growth to biofilm growth and the implications in the food industry.
• Interactions of microorganisms in multi-species biofilms relevant to food application.
• Influence of food processing environmental conditions on the formation of biofilms.
• Innovative strategies to improve knowledge regarding the identification, control, and eradication of pathogenic biofilms in the food industry.
• Biofilm-based approaches to improve the fermentative processes.
• Strategies to facilitate/control biofilm formation of beneficial microorganisms employed in fermentative processes.

Dr. Barbara Giordani
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• fermentation process
• food fermentation
• microbial metabolism
• biofilm
• biofilm-based fermentation
• microbial immobilization
• food contamination
• starter microorganisms