Editorial: microbial food and feed ingredients – functionality and health

Microbial food and feed ingredients is the topic for a series of MiFFI conferences (https://miffi.org). The first conference, held in Copenhagen in May 2018, gave rise to a thematic issue of FEMS Microbiology Letters (volume 366 issue 11). ‘Microbial food and feed ingredients’ is, in the context of MiFFI, defined as ingredients composed of or produced by microorganisms (Hansen, Nielsen and LaPointe 2019). The fundamental idea behind the MIFFI conferences is to assemble experts working in industry, academia, and government representing the disciplines of fundamental science, product development, consumer analysis and legal aspects of food and feed ingredients. The second MIFFI conference was scheduled for May 2020, but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Covid-19 prevented the conference, it did not stop research and development, so we decided to proceed with publishing manuscripts for the MiFFI2020 thematic issue of FEMS Microbiology Letters. The current issue is the result and represents the highlights of this canceled conference. In the absence of the opportunity to meet and interact with experts working on food and feed ingredients from all the multitude of angles necessary to bring new products on the market, we are pleased to present this thematic issue containing four reviews and five research letters presenting original research. The authors are leading experts originating from 15 different countries. The nine papers fall within three major themes: functionality of food cultures, pro- and pre-biotics, and microalgae as feed ingredients. The functionality of food cultures is addressed by four papers. A full-length review by Bourdichon et al. (2021) addresses food preservation by fermentation from the angles of mechanism and safety. Food preservation has probably been the original and primary purpose of food fermentation. The review highlights what we have learned about bioprotecting cultures and it points to what there is still to innovate. The authors come from several universities and research institutes, several manufactures of food cultures and dairy associations. The research letter authored by Zielinska et al. (2021) also addresses antimicrobial activity, showing the characterization of the antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus strains isolated from traditional fermented cabbage. In addition to acid and hydrogen peroxide production, strains producing bacteriocins or preventing adherence of pathogens were also identified (Zielińska et al. 2021). Formation of texture by food cultures is an important functionality and the identification of optimal strains is a key technology for strain development. The research letter by a group of scientists from one of the leading culture producers, Chr Hansen A/S, describes high throughput screening of texture formation by Leuconostoc and present the genetics of texture formation in Leuconostoc (Poulsen et al. 2020). The ability to grow in the relevant food matrix is a primordial functionality for cultures and is often not addressed specifically. However, the current focus on sustainability and reducing climate change has launched a desire for substituting animal-derived products in our food with plant-derived alternatives. The paper of Madsen et al. (2021) describes the development of cultures for plant based yoghurt alternatives. Pro- and pre-biotics are ingredients with demonstrated health benefits. In total, two mini reviews and two research letters address a number of aspects of this type of ingredient. The triangle of success for developing probiotic products is described in the mini review authored by scientists form one of the largest and leading global ingredients companies, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciencees (recently merged with IFF) (Forssten et al. 2020). The mini review by Dey and Mookherjee describes the emerging field of probiotics to influence mental health via the gut brain axis (Dey and Mookherjee 2021). The research letter by Hansen et al. (2021) describes the use of an in vitro piglet gut model to evaluate the probiotic potential of candidate strains and the research letter by Raba, Adamsberg and Adamsberg (2021) describes the use of an in vitro human gut model to analyse the prebiotic effects of pectin. Microalgae as food and feed ingredients is a rapidly evolving field representing opportunities to improve the sustainability of food and feed production as well as incorporating potential health benefits. The status and outlook for this field is reviewed by Sagaram et al. (2021). The nine papers of this thematic issue fittingly capture the themes of MiFFI, highlighting that the canceled conference would undoubtedly have been a stimulating forum for cross-functional discussion and inspiration. We now hope that the Covid-19 pandemic is under sufficient control to allow us to proceed with the MiFFI-2021 conference in November 2021. We plan to produce a thematic issue of FEMS Microbiology Letters with papers presented at this next conference and papers within the scope of the MiFFI conferences. In anticipation of attending a conference in person, please enjoy the papers of this thematic issue. We look forward to seeing you at MiFFI-2021 or one of the following MiFFI conferences. None declared.

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