Biotechnology for Production of Foods and Flavours

摘要

Since time immemorial, biological processes have been harnessed for the production of foods, Pharmaceuticals and alcoholic beverages. In fact, other than photosynthesis, carbon source including cellulose, sugar, starch, coal, petroleum and organic acids might be employed for biological processing of foods and flavours. Food processing industry has wide ranging processes for transferring agricultural products into edible products. The two most important methods are (ⅰ) to design microorganisms that transform inedible biomass into food for human consumption or animal feed, (ⅱ) to design organisms that aid in food processing either by acting directly or providing additional material. Bacteria (e.g. Cellulomonas and Alcaligene), fungi (e.g. Chaetomium cellulolyticum and Chlorella) and certain enzymes (e.g. Pullulanas) have increased commercial feasibility and progressively lowering the unit cost of production. In this present work an attempt has been made to give an extensive information on various biological species which are used for the production of foods and flavours on commercial basis. The word 'biotechnology'- a package term for 'biological technology' ― came into use in the mid 1970s, gradually superceding the more ambiguous 'bioengineering'. One of the most recent quoted definition of 'Biotechnology' is as follows: "The application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents to provide goods and services". Agents includes a wide range of biological substances such as enzymes, and whole cells or multicellular organisms; and the word services covers processes such as waste and water treatment etc.