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Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are a heterologous group of microorganisms that have been isolated from numerous ecological niches, including fermented foods, plants, and the gastrointestinal tract of animals. Because of their “generally regarded as safe” status (GRAS), there has been great interest in using these microorganisms in food production, as probiotic microorganisms or as biotechnological tools. This book describes some of the many benefits of LAB including i) their use in foods where advances in the fight against spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms in foods, their thermotolerance, their microencapsulation, and responses to osmotic challenges will be discussed; ii) their capacity to produce beneficial compounds including bioactive peptides, biosurfactants, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and antimicrobial products such as organic acids, hydrogen peroxide, bacteriocins, and peptidoglycan hydrolases; and iii) their effect on health and other applications such as their use as a DNA vaccine delivery system, bile-salt hydrolase, and exopolysaccharides production as well as the use of spore forming LAB. This new book is a compilation of topics that have been written by experts from all over the world (Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Mexico, and Thailand) who work in different research settings offering varying viewpoints on the most up-to-date information currently available on the uses and many benefits of Lactic Acid Bacteria.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are amongst the most important groups of microorganisms used in the food industry. For example, LAB are used in the production of fermented products, such as yoghurts, cheese and pickled vegetables. In addition LAB can inhibit the growth of spoilage microbes and/or pathogens in their environment by lowering the pH and/or through the production of antimicrobial peptides, called bacteriocins. Both LAB and bifidobacteria are also thought to have health-promoting abilities and many are used as probiotics for the prevention, alleviation and treatment of intestinal disorders in humans and animals. In this comprehensive book, expert international authors review the most recent cutting-edge research in these areas. Topics include: Lactobacillus genomics; Bifidobacterium gene manipulation technologies; metabolism of human milk oligosaccharides in bifidobacteria; proton-motive metabolic cycles; oxidative stress and oxygen metabolism; Bifidobacterium response to O2; bile acid stress in LAB and bifidobacteria; protein structure quality control; bacteriocin classification and diversity; lactococcal bacteriocins; lactobacilli bacteriocins; other bacteriocins; production of optically pure lactic acid; antihypertensive metabolites from LAB; the anti-H. pylori effect of Lactobacillus gasseri; probiotics for allergic rhinitis; probiotics health claims in Japan and Europe. Essential reading for every researcher working with LAB, bifidobacteria and probiotics, from the PhD student to the experienced scientist.