Review: Diversity of Microorganisms in Global Fermented Foods and Beverages

Abstract

Culturalable and non-culturable microorganisms naturally ferment majority of global fermented foods and beverages. Traditional food fermentation represents an extremely valuable cultural heritage in most regions, and harbors a huge genetic potential of valuable but hitherto undiscovered strains. Holistic approaches for identification and complete profiling of both culturalable and non-culturable microorganisms in global fermented foods are of interest to food microbiologists. The application of culture-independent technique has thrown new light on the diversity of a number of hitherto unknown and non-cultural microorganisms in naturally fermented foods. Functional bacterial groups (“phylotypes”) may be reflected by their mRNA expression in a particular substrate and not by mere DNA-level detection. An attempt has been made to review the microbiology of some fermented foods and alcoholic beverages of the world.

Introduction

Traditionally, boiled rice is a staple diet with fermented and non-fermented legume (mostly soybeans) products, vegetables, pickles, fish, and meat in Far-East Asia, South Asia, North Asia, and the Indian subcontinent excluding Western and Northern India; while wheat/barley-based breads/loaves comprise a staple diet followed by milk and fermented milk products, meat, and fermented meats (sausages) in the Western and Northern part of India, West Asian continent, Europe, North America, and even in Australia and New Zealand (Tamang and Samuel, 2010). Sorghum/maize porridges, on the other hand, are the main courses of diet with many fermented and non-fermented sorghum/maize/millets, cassava, wild legume seeds, meat, and milk products in Africa and South America. Fermented foods are the hub of consortia of microorganisms, since they are either present as natural indigenous microbiota in uncooked plant or animal substrates, utensils, containers, earthen pots, and the environment (Hesseltine, 1979; Franz et al., 2014), or add starter culture(s) containing functional microorganisms (Holzapfel, 1997; Stevens and Nabors, 2009) which modify the substrates biochemically, and organoleptically into edible products that are culturally and socially acceptable to the consumers (Campbell-Platt, 1994; Steinkraus, 1997; Tamang, 2010b). Microorganisms convert the chemical composition of raw materials during fermentation, which enrich the nutritional value in some fermented foods, and impart health-benefits to the consumers (Steinkraus, 2002; Farhad et al., 2010; Tamang, 2015a).

Several researchers have reviewed the microbiology, biochemistry, and nutrition of fermented foods and beverages from different countries of Asia (Hesseltine, 1983; Steinkraus, 1994, 1996; Nout and Aidoo, 2002; Tamang et al., 2015); Africa (Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997; Olasupo et al., 2010; Franz et al., 2014); Europe (Pederson, 1979; Campbell-Platt, 1987; Wood, 1998); South America (Chaves-López et al., 2014), and North America (Doyle and Beuchat, 2013). Many genera/species of microorganisms have been reported in relation to various fermented foods and beverages across the world; the usage of molecular tools in recent years have helped to clarify, at least in part, the nomenclatural confusion and generalization caused by conventional (phenotypic) taxonomic methods. The present paper is an attempt to collate and review the updated information on microbiology of some globally fermented foods and beverages.

Microorganisms in fermented foods

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely present in many fermented foods and beverages (Stiles and Holzapfel, 1997; Tamang, 2010b). Major genera of the LAB such as Alkalibacterium, Carnobacterium, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, Tetragenococcus, Vagococcus, and Weissella (Salminen et al., 2004; Axelsson et al., 2012; Holzapfel and Wood, 2014) have been isolated from various globally fermented foods and beverages.

Bacillus is present in alkaline-fermented foods of Asia and Africa (Parkouda et al., 2009; Tamang, 2015b). Species of Bacillus that are present, mostly in legume-based fermented foods, are Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus subtilis variety natto, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Kiers et al., 2000; Kubo et al., 2011), while strains of Bacillus cereus have been isolated from the fermentation of Prosopis africana seeds for the production of okpehe in Nigeria (Oguntoyinbo et al., 2007). Some strains of B. subtilis produce λ-polyglutamic acid (PGA) which is an amino acid polymer commonly present in Asian fermented soybean foods, giving the characteristic of a sticky texture to the product (Urushibata et al., 2002; Nishito et al., 2010).

The association of several species of Kocuria, Micrococcus (members of the Actinobacteria), and Staphylococcus (belonging to the Firmicutes) has been reported for fermented milk products, fermented sausages, meat, and fish products (Martín et al., 2006; Coton et al., 2010). Species of Bifidobacterium, Brachybacterium, Brevibacterium, and Propionibacterium are isolated from cheese, and species of Arthrobacter and Hafnia from fermented meat products (Bourdichon et al., 2012). Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae subsp. ozaenae, Haloanaerobium, Halobacterium, Halococcus, Propionibacterium, Pseudomonas, etc. are also present in many global fermented foods (Tamang, 2010b).

Genera of yeasts reported for fermented foods, alcoholic beverages and non-food mixed amylolytic starters are mostly Brettanomyces, Candida, Cryptococcus, Debaryomyces, Dekkera, Galactomyces, Geotrichum, Hansenula, Hanseniaspora, Hyphopichia, Issatchenkia, Kazachstania, Kluyveromyces, Metschnikowia, Pichia, Rhodotorula, Rhodosporidium, Saccharomyces, Saccharomycodes, Saccharomycopsis, Schizosaccharomyces, Sporobolomyces, Torulaspora, Torulopsis, Trichosporon, Yarrowia, and Zygosaccharomyces (Watanabe et al., 2008; Tamang and Fleet, 2009; Lv et al., 2013).

Major role of filamentous molds in fermented foods and alcoholic beverages is the production of enzymes and the degradation of anti-nutritive factors (Aidoo and Nout, 2010). Species of Actinomucor, Amylomyces, Aspergillus, Monascus, Mucor, Neurospora, Parcilomyces, Penicillium, Rhizopus, and Ustilago are reported for many fermented foods, Asian non-food amylolytic starters and alcoholic beverages (Nout and Aidoo, 2002; Chen et al., 2014).

Taxonomic tools for identification of microorganisms from fermented foods

Use of culture media may ignore several unknown non-culturable microorganisms that may play major or minor functional roles in production of fermented foods. Direct DNA extraction from samples of fermented foods, commonly known as culture-independent methods, is nowadays frequently used in food microbiology to profile both culturable and non-culturable microbial populations from fermented foods (Cocolin and Ercolini, 2008; Alegría et al., 2011; Cocolin et al., 2013; Dolci et al., 2015), provided that the amplification efficiency is high enough. PCR-DGGE analysis is the most popular culture-independent technique used for detecting microorganisms in fermented foods and thereby profiling both bacterial populations (Cocolin et al., 2011; Tamang, 2014) and yeast populations in fermented foods (Cocolin et al., 2002; Jianzhonga et al., 2009). Both culturable and non-culturable microorganisms from any fermented food and beverage may be identified using culture-dependent and -independent methods to document a complete profile of microorganisms, and also to study both inter- and intra-species diversity within a particular genus or among genera (Ramos et al., 2010; Greppi et al., 2013a,b; Yan et al., 2013). A combination of Propidium MonoAzide (PMA) treatment on samples before DNA extraction and molecular quantifying method can be used to accurately enumerate the viable microorganisms in fermented foods (Desfossés-Foucault et al., 2012; Fujimoto and Watanabe, 2013).

Molecular identification is emerging as an accurate and reliable identification tool, and is widely used in identification of both culture-dependent and culture-independent microorganisms from fermented foods (Giraffa and Carminati, 2008; Dolci et al., 2015). Species-specific PCR primers are used for species level identification (Tamang et al., 2005); this technique is widely applied in the identification of LAB isolated from fermented foods (Robert et al., 2009). The application of real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) with specific primers enables the specific detection and quantification of LAB species in fermented foods (Park et al., 2009).

Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is a typing method based on the genomic DNA fragment profiles amplified by PCR, and is commonly used for disintegration of LAB strains from fermented foods (Coppola et al., 2006; Chao et al., 2008). The repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) technique permits typing at subspecies level and reveals significant genotypic differences among strains of the same bacterial species from fermented food samples (Tamang et al., 2008). Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) is a technique based on the selective amplification and separation of genomic restriction fragments, and its applicability in identification and to discriminate has been demonstrated for various LAB strains (Tanigawa and Watanabe, 2011).

Techniques of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) have been developed to profile microbial communities directly from fermented foods, and are based on sequence-specific distinctions of 16S rDNA and 26S rDNA amplicons produced by PCR (Ercolini, 2004; Flórez and Mayo, 2006; Alegría et al., 2011). However, DGGE has some disadvantages as well like it is time consuming, unable to determine the relative abundance of dominant species and distinguish between viable and nonviable cells, as well as it has difficulties in interpretation of multi-bands (Dolci et al., 2015). DGGE is also limited to detect specific species as it may only reveal some of the major bacterial species such as B. licheniformis and Bacillus thermoamylovorans in chungkokjang (sticky fermented soybean food of Korea) and not detect a large number of predominant or diverse rare bacterial species identified in pyrosequencing analysis (Nam et al., 2011).

The amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) technique using restriction enzymes is also useful in identification of microorganisms from fermented foods (Jeyaram et al., 2010).

Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), using housekeeping genes as molecular markers alternative to the 16S rRNA genes, is used for LAB species identification: rpoA and pheS genes for Enterococcus and Lactobacillus, atpA and pepN for Lactococcus species, and dnaA, gyrB, and rpoC for species of Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, and Weissella (de Bruyne et al., 2007, 2008b, 2010; Diancourt et al., 2007; Picozzi et al., 2010; Tanigawa and Watanabe, 2011).

Effective tools of next generation sequencing (NGS) such as metagenomics, phylobiomics, and metatranscriptomics are nowadays applied for documentation of cultures in traditionally fermented products (Mozzi et al., 2013; van Hijum et al., 2013). However, NGS as a sophisticated tool needs well-trained hands and a well-equipped molecular laboratory, which may not always be available. Application of metagenomic approaches, by using parallel pyrosequencing of tagged 16S rRNA gene amplicons, provide information on microbial communities as profiled in kimchi, a naturally fermented vegetable product of Korea (Jung et al., 2011; Park et al., 2012), nukadoko, a fermented rice bran of Japan (Sakamoto et al., 2011), narezushi, a fermented salted fish and cooked rice of Japan (Kiyohara et al., 2012), and ben-saalga, a traditional gruel of pearl millet of Burkina Faso (Humblot and Guyot, 2009). Pyrosequencing has revealed the presence of numerous and even minor bacterial groups in fermented foods, but DNA-level detection does not distinguish between metabolically “active” and “passive” organisms. “Functionally relevant phylotypes” in an ecosystem may be specifically detected by, e.g., weighted UniFrac principal coordinate analysis based on 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes, as applied in studies on gut microbiota (Wang et al., 2015). The 16S rRNA gene sequence based pyrosequencing method enables a comprehensive and high-throughput analysis of microbial ecology (Sakamoto et al., 2011), and this method has been applied to various traditionally fermented foods (Oki et al., 2014).

A proteomics identification method based on protein profiling using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionizing-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been used to identify species of Bacillus in fermented foods of Africa (Savadogo et al., 2011), and species of LAB isolated from global fermented foods (Tanigawa et al., 2010; Dušková et al., 2012; Sato et al., 2012; Nguyen et al., 2013a; Kuda et al., 2014).

Global fermented foods

Campbell-Platt (1987) reported around 3500 global fermented foods and beverages, and had divided them into about 250 groups. There might be more than 5000 varieties of common and uncommon fermented foods and alcoholic beverages being consumed in the world today by billions of people, as staple and other food components (Tamang, 2010b). Global fermented foods are classified into nine major groups on the basis of substrates (raw materials) used from plant/animal sources: (1) fermented cereals, (2) fermented vegetables and bamboo shoots, (3) fermented legumes, (4) fermented roots/tubers, (5) fermented milk products, (6) fermented and preserved meat products, (7) fermented, dried and smoked fish products, (8) miscellaneous fermented products, and (9) alcoholic beverages (Steinkraus, 1997; Tamang, 2010b,c).

Fermented milk products

Fermented milk products (Table 1) are classified into two major groups on the basis of microorganisms: (A) lactic fermentation, dominated by species of LAB, comprising the “thermophilic” type (e.g., yogurt, Bulgarian buttermilk), probiotic type (e.g., acidophilus milk, bifidus milk), and the mesophilic type (e.g., natural fermented milk, cultured milk, cultured cream, cultured buttermilk); and (B) fungal-lactic fermentations, where LAB and yeasts cooperate to generate the final product, which include alcoholic milks (e.g., acidophilus-yeast milk, kefir, koumiss), and moldy milks (e.g., viili; Mayo et al., 2010). Natural fermentation is one of the oldest methods of milk processing using raw and boiled milk to ferment spontaneously, or of using the back-slopping method where a part of the previous batch of a fermented product is used to inoculate the new batch (Holzapfel, 2002; Josephsen and Jespersen, 2004). Cheese and cheese products derived from the fermentation of milk are of major nutritional and commercial importance throughout the world (de Ramesh et al., 2006). Starter cultures in milk fermentation are of two types: primary cultures that are mostly Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii, Lb. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, Lb. helveticus, Leuconostoc spp., and Streptococcus thermophilus to participate in the acidification (Parente and Cogan, 2004); and secondary cultures that are used in cheese-making are Brevibacterium linens, Propionibacterium freudenreichii, Debaryomyces hansenii, Geotrichum candidum, Penicillium camemberti, and P. roqueforti for development of flavor and texture during ripening of cheese (Coppola et al., 2006; Quigley et al., 2011). Some non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) microbiota are usually present in high numbers in fermented milk, which include Enterococcus durans, Ent. faecium, Lb. casei, Lb. plantarum, Lb. salivarius, and Staphylococcus spp. (Briggiler-Marcó et al., 2007).

Table 1.

Microorganisms isolated from some common and uncommon fermented milk products of the world.

Product	Substrate	Sensory property and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Airag	Mare or camel milk	Acidic, sour, mild alcoholic drink	Lb. helveticus, Lb. kefiranofaciens, Bifidobacterium mongoliense, Kluyveromyces marxianus	Mongolia	Watanabe et al., 2008, 2009b; Yu et al., 2011
Amasi	Cow milk	Acidic, sour, with thick consistency	Lc. lactis subsp. lactis (dominating), Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, and Leuconostoc spp. Several non-culturable strains	South Africa, Zimbabwe	Osvik et al., 2013
Cheese	Animal milk	Soft or hard, solid; side dish, salad, used in many cooked/baked dishes	Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lb. delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii, Lb. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, Lb. helveticus, Lb. casei, Lb. plantarum, Lb. salivarius, Leuconostoc spp., Strep. thermophilus, Ent. durans, Ent. faecium, and Staphylococcus spp., Brevibacterium linens, Propionibacterium freudenreichii, Debaryomyces hansenii, Geotrichum candidum, Penicillium camemberti, P. roqueforti	Worldwide	Parente and Cogan, 2004; Quigley et al., 2011
Chhu	Yak/cow milk	Cheese like product, curry, soup	Lb. farciminis, Lb. brevis, Lb. alimentarius, Lb. salivarius, Lact. lactis, Candida sp. Saccharomycopsis sp.	India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet)	Dewan and Tamang, 2006
Chhurpi	Yak/cow milk	Cheese like product, soup, curry, pickle	Lb. farciminis, Lb. paracasei, Lb. biofermentans, Lb. plantarum, Lb. curvatus, Lb. fermentum, Lb. alimentarius, Lb. kefir, Lb. hilgardii, W. confusa, Ent. faecium, Leuc. mesenteroides	India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet)	Tamang et al., 2000
Dahi	Cow/buffalo milk, starter culture	Curd, savory	Lb. bifermentans, Lb. alimentarius, Lb. paracasei, Lact. lactis, Strep. cremoris, Strep. lactis, Strep. thermophilus, Lb. bulgaricus, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. helveticus, Lb. cremoris, Ped. pentosaceous, P. acidilactici, W. cibaria, W. paramesenteroides, Lb. fermentum, Lb. delbrueckii subsp. indicus, Saccharomycopsis sp., Candida sp.	India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan	Harun-ur-Rashid et al., 2007; Patil et al., 2010
Dadih	Buffalo milk	Curd, savory	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecalis, Strep. lactis supsp. lactis, Strep. cremoris, Lb. casei subsp. casei, and Lb. casei subsp. rhamnosus	Indonesia	Hosono et al., 1989
Kefir	Goat, sheep, cow	Alcoholic fermented milk, effervescent milk	Lb. brevis, Lb. caucasicus, Strep. thermophilus, Lb. bulgaricus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. casei, Lb. brevis, Tor. holmii, Tor. delbruechii	Russia	Bernardeau et al., 2006
Koumiss	Milk	Acid fermented milk, drink	Lb. bulgaricus, Lb. salivarius, Lb. buchneri, Lb. heveticus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. acidophilus, Torula sp.	Russia, Mongolia	Wu et al., 2009; Hao et al., 2010
Laban rayeb	Milk	Acid fermented milk, yogurt-like	Lb. casei, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lact. lactis, Leuconostoc sp., Sacch. kefir	Egypt	Bernardeau et al., 2006
Leben / Lben	Cow milk	Sour milk	Candida sp., Saccharomyces sp., Lactobacillus sp., Leuconostoc sp.	North, East Central Africa	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Misti dahi (mishti doi, lal dahi, payodhi)	Buffalo/cow milk	Mild-acidic, thick-gel, sweetened curd, savory	Strep. Salivarius subsp. thermophilus, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Sacch. cerevisiae	India, Bangladesh	Ghosh and Rajorhia, 1990; Gupta et al., 2000
Nunu	Raw cow milk	Naturally fermented milk	Lb. fermentum, Lb. plantarum, Lb. helveticus, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, Ent. italicus, Weissella confusa, Candida parapsilosis, C. rugosa, C. tropicalis, Galactomyces geotrichum, Pichia kudriavzevii, Sacch. cerevisiae	Ghana	Akabanda et al., 2013
Philu	Cow/ yak milk	Cream like product, curry	Lb. paracasei, Lb. bifermentans, Ent. faecium	India, Nepal, Tibet (China)	Dewan and Tamang, 2007
Shrikhand	Cow, buffalo milk	Acidic, concentrated sweetened viscous, savory	Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lc. lactis subsp. diacetylactis, Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, Strep. thermophilus, Lb. delbruecki subsp. bulgaricus	India	Sarkar, 2008; Singh and Singh, 2014
Somar	Yak or cow milk	Buttermilk	Lb. paracasei, Lact. lactis	India, Nepal	Dewan and Tamang, 2007
Sua chua	Dried skim milk, starter, sugar	Acid fermented milk	Lb. bulgaricus, Strep. thermophilus	Vietnam	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Tarag	Cow/yak/goat milk	Acidic, sour, drink	Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lb. helveticus, Strep. thermophilus, Sacch. cerevisiae, Issatchenkia orientalis, Kazachstania unispora	Mongolia	Watanabe et al., 2008
Viili	Cow milk	Thick and sticky, sweet taste, breakfast	Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis, Leuc. mesenteroides subps. cremoris, G. candidum, K. marxianus, P. fermentans	Finland	Kahala et al., 2008
Yogurt	Animal milk	Acidic, thick-gel viscous, Curd-like product, savory	Strep. thermophilus, Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. casei, Lb. rhamnosus, Lb. gasseri, Lb. johnsonii, Bifidobacterium spp.	Europe, Australia, America	Tamime and Robinson, 2007; Angelakis et al., 2011

Fermented cereal foods

In most of the Asian countries, rice is fermented either by using mixed-culture(s) into alcoholic beverages or by using food beverages (Tamang, 2010c), whereas in Europe, America, and Australia, most cereals like wheat, rye, barley and maize are fermented by natural fermentation or by adding commercial baker's yeast into the batter for dough breads/loaves (Guyot, 2010). In Africa, fermented cereal foods are traditionally used as staples as well as complementary and weaning foods for infants and young children (Tou et al., 2007). In Europe, people still practice the old traditional method of preparation of breads or loaves without using any commercial strains of baker's yeast (Hammes and Ganzle, 1998). Yeasts and LAB conduct dough fermentation, mostly San Francisco sourdough, and the resultant products are generally called sourdough breads because they have higher contents of lactic acid and acetic acid due to the bacterial growth (Brandt, 2007; de Vuyst et al., 2009).

Cereal fermentation is mainly represented by species of LAB and yeasts (Corsetti and Settanni, 2007). Enterococcus, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, and Weissella are common bacteria associated with cereal fermentations (Table 2; de Vuyst et al., 2009; Guyot, 2010; Moroni et al., 2011). Native strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are the principal yeast of most bread fermentations (Hammes et al., 2005), but other non-Saccharomyces yeasts are also significant in many cereal fermentations including Candida, Debaryomyces, Hansenula, Kazachstania, Pichia, Trichosporon, and Yarrowia (Iacumin et al., 2009; Weckx et al., 2010; Johnson and Echavarri-Erasun, 2011).

Table 2.

Microorganisms isolated from some common and uncommon fermented cereal foods of the world.

Product	Raw material/Substrate	Sensory property and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Ang-kak	Red rice	Colorant	Monascus purpureus	China, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines	Steinkraus, 1996
Boza	Cereals	Sour refreshing liquid	Lactobacillus sp., Lactococcus sp., Pediococcus sp., Leuconostoc sp., Sacch. cerevisiae	Bulgaria	Blandino et al., 2003
Busa	Maize, sorghum, millet	Submerged	Sacch. cerevisiae, Schizosacchromyces pombe, Lb. plantarum, Lb. helveticus, Lb. salivarius, Lb. casei, Lb. brevis, Lb. buchneri, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. damnosus	East Africa, Kenya	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Ben-saalga	Pearl millet	Weaning food	Lactobacillus sp., Pediococcus sp., Leuconostoc sp., Weissela sp., yeasts	Burkina Faso, Ghana	Tou et al., 2007
Dosa	Rice and black gram	Thin, crisp pancake, Shallow-fried, staple	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecalis, Tor. candida, Trichosporon pullulans	India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore	Soni et al., 1986
Enjera/Injera	Tef flour, wheat	Acidic, sourdough, leavened, pancake-like bread, staple	Lb. pontis, Lb. plantarum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Sacch. cerevisiae, Cand. glabrata	Ethiopia	Olasupo et al., 2010
Gowé	Maize	Intermediate product used to prepare beverages, porridges	Lb. fermentum, Lb. reuteri, Lb. brevis, Lb. confusus, Lb. curvatus, Lb. buchneri, Lb. salivarius, Lact. lactis, Ped. pentosaceus, Ped. acidilactici, Leuc. mesenteroides; Candidatropicalis, C. krusei, Kluyveromyces marxianus	Benin	Vieira-Dalodé et al., 2007; Greppi et al., 2013a
Hussuwa	Sorghum	Cooked dough	Lb. fermentum, Ped. acidilactici, Ped. pentosaceus, Yeasts	Sudan	Yousif et al., 2010
Idli	Rice, black gram or other dehusked pulses	Mild-acidic, soft, moist, spongy pudding; staple, breakfast	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. fermenti, Lb. coryniformis, Ped. acidilactis, Ped. cerevisae, Streptococcus sp., Ent. faecalis, Lact. lactis, B. amyloliquefaciens, Cand. cacaoi, Cand. fragicola, Cand. glabrata, Cand. kefyr, Cand. pseudotropicalis, Cand. sake, Cand. tropicalis, Deb. hansenii, Deb. tamarii, Issatchenkia terricola, Rhiz. graminis, Sacch. cerevisiae, Tor. candida, Tor. holmii	India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore	Steinkraus et al., 1967; Sridevi et al., 2010
Jalebi	Wheat flour	Crispy sweet, doughnut-like, deep-fried, snacks	Sacch. Bayanus, Lb. fermentum, Lb. buchneri, Lact. lactis, Ent. faecalis, Sacch. cerevisiae	India, Nepal, Pakistan	Batra and Millner, 1976
Kenkey	Maize	Acidic, solid, steamed dumpling, staple	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Ent. cloacae, Acinetobacter sp., Sacch. cerevisiae, Cand. mycoderma	Ghana	Oguntoyinbo et al., 2011
Khamak (Kao-mak)	Glutinous rice, Look-pang (starter)	Dessert	Rhizopus sp., Mucor sp., Penicillum sp., Aspergillus sp., Endomycopsis sp., Hansenula sp., Saccharomyces sp.	Thailand	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Kunu-zaki	Maize, sorghum, millet	Mild-acidic, viscous, porridge, staple	Lb. plantarum, Lb. pantheris, Lb. vaccinostercus, Corynebacterium sp., Aerobacter sp., Cand. mycoderma, Sacch. cerevisiae, Rhodotorula sp., Cephalosporium sp., Fusarium sp., Aspergillussp., Penicillium sp.	Nigeria	Olasupo et al., 2010; Oguntoyinbo et al., 2011
Kisra	Sorghum	Thin pancake bread, staple	Ped. pentosaceus, Lb. confusus, Lb. brevis, Erwinia ananas, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Ent. cloacae, Cand. intermedia, Deb. hansenii, Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Rhizopus sp.	Sudan	Hamad et al., 1997
Koko	Maize	Porridge	Ent. clocae, Acinetobacter sp., Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Sacch. cerevisiae, Cand. mycoderma	Ghana	Blandino et al., 2003
Lao-chao	Rice	Paste, soft, juicy, glutinous dessert	Rhiz. oryzae, Rhiz. chinensis, Chlamydomucor oryzae, Sacchromycopsis sp.	China	Blandino et al., 2003
Mawè	Maize	Intermediate product used to prepare beverages, porridges	Lb. fermentum, Lb. reuteri, Lb. brevis, Lb. confusus, Lb. curvatus, Lb. buchneri, Lb. salivarius, Lact. lactis, Ped. pentosaceus, Ped. acidilactici, Leuc. mesenteroides; Candida glabrata, Sacch. cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Clavispora lusitaniae	Benin, Togo	Greppi et al., 2013a,b
Mbege	Maize, sorghum, millet	Submerged	Sacch. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Lb. plantarum, Leuc. mesenteroides	Tanzania	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Ogi	Maize, sorghum, millet	Mild-acidic, viscous, porridge, staple	Lb. plantarum, Lb. pantheris, Lb. vaccinostercus, Corynebacterium sp., Aerobacter sp., Candida krusei, Clavispora lusitaniae, Sacch. cerevisiae, Rhodotorula sp., Cephalosporium sp., Fusarium sp., Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp.	Nigeria	Greppi et al., 2013a
Pito	Maize, sorghum	Submerged	Geotrichum candidum, Lactobacillus sp., Candida sp.	West Africa	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Poto poto	Maize	Slurry	Lb. gasseri, Lb. plantarum/paraplantarum, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. reuteri, Lb. casei, Bacillus sp., Enterococcus sp., Yeasts	Congo	Abriouel et al., 2006
Pozol	Maize	Mild-acidic, thick viscous, porridge, staple	Strep. bovis, Strep. macedonicus, Lc. lactis, Ent. sulfureus	Mexico	Díaz-Ruiz et al., 2003
Puto	Rice	Steamed cake, breakfast	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecalis, Ped. pentosaceus, Yeasts	Philippines	Steinkraus, 2004
Rabadi	Buffalo or cow milk and cereals, pulses	Mild-acidic, thick slurry-like product	Ped. acidilactici, Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., yeasts	India, Pakistan	Gupta et al., 1992
Selroti	Rice-wheat flour-milk	Pretzel-like, deep fried bread, staple	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, Ped. Pentosaceus and Lb. curvatus, Sacch. cerevisiae, Sacch. kluyveri, Deb. hansenii, P. burtonii, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii	India, Nepal, Bhutan	Yonzan and Tamang, 2010, 2013
Sourdough	Rye, wheat	Mild-acidic, leavened bread	Lb. sanfranciscensis, Lb. alimentarius, Lb. buchneri, Lb. casei, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. fructivorans, Lb. plantarum, Lb. reuteri, Lb. johnsonii, Cand. humili, Issatchenkia orientalis	America, Europe, Australia	Gänzle et al., 1998; de Vuyst et al., 2009
Tape Ketan	Glutinous rice, Ragi	Sweet, sour, mild alcoholic, dessert	Thizopus sp., Chlamydomucor sp., Candida sp., Endomycopsis sp., Saccharomyces sp.	Indonesia	Steinkraus, 1996
Togwa	Cassava, maize, sorghum, millet	Fermented gruel or beverage	Lb. brevis, Lb. cellobiosus, Lb. fermentum, Lb. plantarum and Ped. pentosaceus, Candida pelliculosa, C. tropicalis, Issatchenkia orientalis, Sacch. cerevisiae	Tanzania	Mugula et al., 2003
Tarhana	Sheep milk, wheat	Mild-acidic, sweet-sour, soup or biscuit	Lb. bulgaricus, Strep. thermophilus, yeasts	Cyprus, Greece, Turkey	Sengun et al., 2009
Uji	Maize, sorghum, millet, cassava flour	Acidic, sour, porridge, staple	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. plantarum	Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997

Fermented vegetable foods

Perishable and seasonal leafy vegetables, radish, cucumbers including young edible bamboo tender shoots are traditionally fermented into edible products (Table 3). Fermentation of vegetables is mostly dominated by species of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, followed by Leuconostoc, Weissella, Tetragenococcus, and Lactococcus (Chang et al., 2008; Watanabe et al., 2009a). A complete microbial profile of LAB in kimchi has been characterized using different molecular identification tools (Shin et al., 2008; Nam et al., 2009; Park et al., 2010; Jung et al., 2011, 2013a). Natural fermentations during production of sauerkraut, a fermented cabbage product of Germany, had been studied and a species of LAB were reported. (Johanningsmeier et al., 2007; Plengvidhya et al., 2007). Species of LAB constitute the native population in the Himalayan fermented vegetable products such as gundruk, sinki, goyang, khalpi, and inziangsang (Karki et al., 1983; Tamang et al., 2005, 2009; Tamang and Tamang, 2007, 2010) and in several naturally fermented bamboo products of India and Nepal (Tamang and Sarkar, 1996; Tamang et al., 2008; Tamang and Tamang, 2009; Jeyaram et al., 2010; Sonar and Halami, 2014).

Table 3.

Microorganisms isolated from some common and uncommon fermented vegetable products of the world.

Product	Substrate/Raw materials	Sensory property and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Burong mustala	Mustard	Acidic, wet	Lb. brevis, Ped. cerevisiae	Philippines	Rhee et al., 2011
Cucumbers (fermented)	Cucumbers	Acidic, wet, pickle	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Ped. acidilactici, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis	Europe, USA, Canada	Pederson, 1979
Dha muoi	Mustard and beet, eggplant	Acidic, wet	Lb. fermentum, Lb. pentosus, Lb. plantarum, Ped. pentosaceus, Lb. brevis, Lb. paracasei, Lb. pantheris, Ped. acidilactici	Vietnam	Nguyen et al., 2013a
Ekung	Bamboo shoot	Acidic, sour, soft, curry	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. casei, Tor. halophilus	India	Tamang and Tamang, 2009
Eup	Bamboo shoot	Acidic, sour, dry, curry	Lb. plantarum, Lb. fermentum, Lb. brevis, Lb. curvatus, Ped. pentosaceus, Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. fallax, Leuc. lactis, Leuc. citreum, Ent. durans	India	Tamang and Tamang, 2009
Fu-tsai	Mustard	Acidic, sour	Ent. faecalis, Lb. alimentarius, Lb. brevis, Lb. coryniformis, Lb. farciminis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. versmoldensis, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. pseudomesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus, W. cibaria, W. paramesenteroides	Taiwan	Chao et al., 2009, 2012
Goyang	Wild vegetable	Acidic, sour, wet, soup	Lb. plantarum, L. brevis, Lc. lactis, Ent. faecium, Ped. pentosaceus, Candida sp.	India, Nepal	Tamang and Tamang, 2007
Gundruk	Leafy vegetable	Acidic, sour, dry, soup, side-dish	Lb. fermentum, Lb. plantarum, Lb. casei, Lb. casei subsp. pseudoplantarum, Ped. pentosaceus	India, Nepal, Bhutan	Karki et al., 1983; Tamang et al., 2005
Hirring	Bamboo shoot tips	Acidic, sour, wet, pickle	Lb. brevis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. curvatus, Ped. pentosaceus, Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. fallax, Leuc. lactis, Leuc. citreum, Ent. durans, Lc. lactis	India	Tamang and Tamang, 2009
Hom-dong	Red onion	Fermented red onion	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. plantarum, Lb. fermentum, Lb. buchneri	Thailand	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Jiang-gua	Cucumber	Fermented cucumber, pickle	Ent. casseliflavus, Leuc. lactis, Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. pentosus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. paraplantarum, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, W. cibaria, W. hellenica	Taiwan	Chen et al., 2012
Jiang-sun	Bamboo shoot, salt, sugar, douchi (fermented soybeans)	Fermented bamboo; side dish	Lb. plantarum, Ent. faecium, Lc. lactis subsp. lactis	Taiwan	Chen et al., 2010
Khalpi	Cucumber	Acidic, sour, wet, pickle	Lb. brevis, Lb. plantarum, Ped. pentosaceus, Ped. acidilactici, Leuc. fallax	India, Nepal	Tamang et al., 2005; Tamang and Tamang, 2010
Kimchi	Cabbage, green onion, hot pepper, ginger	Acidic, mild-sour, wet, side-dish	Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. gasicomitatum, Leuc. kimchii, Leuc. inhae, W. koreensis, W. kimchii, W. cibaria, Lb. plantarum, Lb. sakei, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. buchneri, Lb. brevis, Lb. fermentum, Ped. acidilactici, Ped. pentosaceus, Lc. Lactis, yeasts species of Candida, Halococcus, Haloterrigena, Kluyveromyces, Lodderomyces, Natrialba, Natronococcus, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Sporisorium and Trichosporon	Korea	Chang et al., 2008; Nam et al., 2009; Jung et al., 2011
Naw-mai-dong	Bamboo shoots	Acidic, wet	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. fermentum, Lb. buchneri	Thailand	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Mesu	Bamboo shoot	Acidic, sour, wet	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. curvatus, Leu, citreum, Ped. pentosaceus	India, Nepal, Bhutan	Tamang et al., 2008
Oiji	Cucumber, salt, water	Fermented cucumber	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. brevis, Lb. plantarum, Ped. cerevisiae	Korea	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Olives (fermented)	Olive	Acidic, wet, Salad, side dish	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus; Lb. plantarum Lb. pentosus/Lb. plantarum, Lb. paracollinoides, Lb. vaccinostercus/Lb. suebicus and Pediococcus sp. non-lactics (Gordonia sp./Pseudomonas sp., Halorubrum orientalis, Halosarcina pallid, Sphingomonas sp./Sphingobium sp./Sphingopyxis sp., Thalassomonas agarivorans) and yeasts (Candida cf. apicola, Pichia sp., Pic. manshurica/Pic. galeiformis, Sacch. cerevisiae)	USA, Spain, Portugal, Peru, Chile	Abriouel et al., 2011
Pak-gard-dong	Leafy vegetable, salt, boiled rice	Acidic, wet, side dish	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Ped. cerevisiae	Thailand	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Pak-sian-dong	Leaves of Gynandropis pentaphylla	Acidic, wet, side dish	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. plantarum, Lb. germentum, Lb. buchneri	Thailand	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Pao cai	Cabbage	Sweet and sour rather than spicy, Breakfast	Lb. pentosus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. lactis, Lb. fermentum, and Leuc. mesenteroides, and Ped. pentosaceus	China	Yan et al., 2008
Sauerkraut	Cabbage	Acidic, sour, wet, salad, side dish	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus; Lb. brevis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. sakei	Europe, USA, Canada, Australia	Johanningsmeier et al., 2007
Sayur asin	Mustard leaves, cabbage, salt, coconut	Acidic, sour, wet, salad	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. confuses, Ped. pentosaceus.	Indonesia	Puspito and Fleet, 1985
Soibum	Bamboo shoot	Acidic, sour, soft, curry	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. coryniformis, Lb. delbrueckii, Leuc. fallax, Leuc. Lact. lactis, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. durans, Strep. lactis, B. subtilis, B. lichniformis, B. coagulans, B. cereus, B. pumilus, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Saccharomyces sp., Torulopsis sp.	India	Tamang et al., 2008; Jeyaram et al., 2010
Soidon	Bamboo shoot tips	Acidic, sour, soft, curry	Lb. brevis, Lb. plantarum, uncultured Lb. acetotolera, Leuc. fallax, Leuc. citreumns, Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, Weissella cibaria, uncultured W. ghanensis	India	Tamang et al., 2008; Romi et al., 2015
Sinki	Radish tap-root	Acidic, sour, dry, soup, pickle	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. casei, Leuc. fallax	India, Nepal, Bhutan	Tamang and Sarkar, 1993; Tamang et al., 2005
Suan-cai	Vegetables	Acidic, sour, wet	Ped. pentosaceus, Tetragenococcus halophilus	China	Chen et al., 2006
Suan-tsai	Mustard	Acidic, sour, dry	Ent. faecalis, Lb. alimentarius, Lb. brevis, Lb. coryniformis, Lb. farciminis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. versmoldensis, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. pseudomesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus, W. cibaria, W. paramesenteroides	Taiwan	Chao et al., 2009
Sunki	Turnip	Acidic, sour, wet	Lb. plantarum, Lb. fermentum, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. parabuchneri, Lb. kisonensis, Lb. otakiensis, Lb. rapi, Lb. sunkii	Japan	Endo et al., 2008; Watanabe et al., 2009a
Takuanzuke	Japanese radish, salt, sugar, Shochu	Pickle radish	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Leuc. mesenteroides, Streptococcus sp., Pediococcus sp., yeasts	Japan	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Tuaithur	Bamboo shoot	Solid, wet, sour, curry	Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Ped. pentosaceou, Lc. lactis, Bacillus circulans, B. firmus, B. sphaericus, B. subtilis	India	Chakrabarty et al., 2014

Fermented soybeans and other legumes

Two types of fermented soybean foods are produced: soybean foods fermented by Bacillus spp. (mostly B. subtilis) with the stickiness characteristic, and soybean foods fermented by filamentous molds, mostly Aspergillus, Mucor, Rhizopus (Tamang, 2010b). Bacillus-fermented, non-salty and sticky soybean foods are concentrated in an imaginary triangle with three vertices lying each on Japan (natto), east Nepal and north-east India (kinema and its similar products), and northern Thailand (thua-nao), named as “natto triangle” (Nakao, 1972) and renamed as “kinema-natto-thuanao (KNT)-triangle” (Tamang, 2015b). Within the KNT-triangle-bound countries, Bacillus-fermented sticky non-salty soybean foods are consumed such as natto of Japan, chungkokjang of Korea, kinema of India, Nepal and Bhutan, aakhune, bekang, hawaijar, peruyaan, and tungrymbai of India, thua nao of Thailand, pepok of Myanmar, and sieng of Cambodia and Laos (Nagai and Tamang, 2010; Tamang, 2015b; Table 4). Although, the method of production and culinary practices vary from product to product, plasmids, and phylogenetic analysis of B. subtilis showed the similarity among the strains of B. subtilis isolated from common sticky fermented soybean foods of Asia (Hara et al., 1986, 1995; Tamang et al., 2002; Meerak et al., 2007) suggesting the common stock of Bacillus. Mould-fermented soybean products are miso and shoyu of Japan, tempe of Indonesia, douchi and sufu of China, and doenjang of Korea (Sugawara, 2010). Some common non-soybean fermented legumes (e.g., locust beans) are bikalga, dawadawa, iru, okpehe, soumbala, and dugba of Africa (Ouoba et al., 2004, 2008, 2010; Amoa-Awua et al., 2006; Azokpota et al., 2006; Oguntoyinbo et al., 2007, 2010; Meerak et al., 2008; Parkouda et al., 2009; Ahaotu et al., 2013), fermented black-grams products such as dhokla, papad, and wari of India (Nagai and Tamang, 2010), and maseura of India and Nepal (Chettri and Tamang, 2008).

Table 4.

Microorganisms isolated from some common and uncommon fermented legume (soybeans and non-soybean) products of the world.

Product	Substrate/Raw material	Sensory features and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Bekang	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky, paste, curry	B. subtilis, B. brevis, B. circulans, B. coagulans, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus, B. sphaericus, and Lysinibacillus fusiformis	India	Chettri and Tamang, 2015
Bhallae	Black gram	Mild acidic, side dish	B. subtilis, Candida curvata, C. famata, C. membraneafaciens, C. variovaarai, Cryptococcus humicoius, Deb. hansenii, Geotrichum candidum, Hansenula anomala, H. polymorpha, Kl. marxianus, Lb. fermentum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. membranaefaciens, Rhiz. marina, Sacch. cerevisiae, Ent. faecalis, Trichosporon beigelii, Trichosporon pullulans, Wingea robertsii	India	Rani and Soni, 2007
Bikalga	Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)	Condiment	B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. pumilus	Burkina Faso	Ouoba et al., 2008
Chungkokjang (or jeonkukjang, cheonggukjang	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky, soup	B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. licheniformis, B. cereus, Pantoea agglomerans, Pantoega ananatis, Enterococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Rhodococcus sp.	Korea	Hong et al., 2012; Nam et al., 2012
Dawadawa	Locust bean	Alkaline, sticky	B. pumilus, B. licheniformis, B. subtilis, B. firmus, B. atrophaeus, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. mojavensis, Lysininbacillus sphaericus.	Ghana, Nigeria	Amoa-Awua et al., 2006; Meerak et al., 2008
Dhokla	Bengal gram	Mild acidic, spongy, steamed, snack	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. fermenti, Ent. faecalis, Tor. candida, Tor. pullulans	India	Blandino et al., 2003
Douchi	Soybean	Alkaline, paste	B. amyloliquefaciens, B. subtilis, Asp. oryzae	China, Taiwan	Wang et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2007
Doenjang	Soybean	Alkaline, paste, soup	B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. pumilis, Mu. plumbeus, Asp. oryzae, Deb. hansenii, Leuc. mesenteroides, Tor. halophilus, Ent. faecium, Lactobacillus sp.	Korea	Kim et al., 2009; Nam et al., 2011
Furu	Soybean curd	Mild acidic	B. pumilus, B. megaterium, B. stearothermophilus, B. firmus, Staph. hominis	China	Sumino et al., 2003
Gochujang	Soybean, red pepper	Hot-flavored seasoning	B. velegensis, B. amyloliquefacious, B. subtilis, B. liqueformis, spcecis of Oceanobacillus, Zygosaccharomyses, Candida lactis, Zygorouxii, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus	Korea	Shin et al., 2012
Hawaijar	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky	B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. cereus, Staph. aureus, Staph. sciuri, Alkaligenes sp., Providencia rettgers, Proteus mirabilis	India	Jeyaram et al., 2008b; Singh et al., 2014
Iru	Locust bean	Alkaline, sticky	B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. fumus, B. atrophaeus, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. mojavensis, Lysininbacillus sphaericus, Staph. saprophyticus	Nigeria, Benin	Meerak et al., 2008
Kanjang	Soybean, meju, salt, water	Soya sauce	Asp. oryzae, B. subtilis, B. pumillus, B. citreus, Sarcina mazima, Sacch. rouxii	Korea	Shin et al., 2012
Kawal	Leaves of legume (Cassia sp.)	Alkaline, strong flavored, dried balls	B. subilis, propionibacterium sp., Lb. plantarum, Staph. sciuri, yeasts	Sudan	Dirar et al., 2006
Kecap	Soybean, wheat	Liquid	Rhiz. oligosporus, Rhiz. oryzae, Asp. oryzae, Ped. halophilus, Staphylococcus sp., Candida sp., Debaromyces sp., Sterigmatomyces sp.	Indonesia	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Ketjap	Soybean (black)	Syrup	Asp. oryzae, Asp. flavus, Rhiz. oligosporus, Rhiz. arrhizus	Indonesia	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Kinda	Locust bean	Alkaline, sticky	B. pumilus, B. licheniformis, B. subtilis, B. atrophaeus, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. mojavensis, Lysininbacillus sphaericus	Sierra Leone	Meerak et al., 2008
Kinema	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky; curry	B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. cereus, B. circulans, B. thuringiensis, B. sphaericus, Ent. faecium, Cand. parapsilosis, Geotrichum candidum	India, Nepal, Bhutan	Sarkar et al., 1994; Tamang, 2003
Maseura	Black gram	Dry, ball-like, brittle, condiment	B. subtilis, B. mycoides, B. pumilus, B. laterosporus, Ped. acidilactici, Ped. pentosaceous, Ent. durans, Lb. fermentum, Lb. salivarius, Sacch. cerevisiae, Pic. burtonii, Cand. castellii	Nepal, India	Chettri and Tamang, 2008
Meitauza	Soybean	Liquid	B. subtilis, Asp. oryzae, Rhiz. oligosporus, Mu. meitauza, Actinomucor elegans	China, Taiwan	Zhu et al., 2008
Meju	Soybean	Alkaline, paste	Asp. flavus, Asp. fumigatus, Asp. niger, Asp. oryzae, Asp. retricus, Asp. spinosa, Asp. terreus, Asp. wentii, Botrytis cineara, Mu. adundans, Mu. circinelloides, Mu. griseocyanus, Mu. hiemalis, Mu. jasseni, Mu. racemosus, Pen. citrinum, Pen. griseopurpureum, Pen. griesotula, Pen. kaupscinskii, Pen. lanosum, Pen. thomii, Pen. turalense, Rhi. chinensis, Rhi. nigricans, Rhi. oryzae, Rhi. Sotronifer; Candida edax, Can. incommenis, Can. utilis Hansenula anomala, Han. capsulata, Han. holstii, Rhodotorula flava, Rho. glutinis, Sacch. exiguus, Sacch. cerevisiae, Sacch. kluyveri, Zygosaccharomyces japonicus, Zyg. rouxii, B. citreus, B. circulans, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. mesentricus, B. subtilis, B. pumilis, Lactobacillus sp., Ped. acidilactici	Korea	Choi et al., 1995
Miso	Soybean	Alkaline, paste	Ped. acidilactici, Leuc. paramesenteroides, Micrococcus halobius, Ped. halophilus, Streptococcus sp., Sacch. rouxii, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, Asp. oryzae	Japan	Asahara et al., 2006; Sugawara, 2010
Natto	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky, breakfast	B. subtilis (natto)	Japan	Nagai and Tamang, 2010
Oncom Hitam (Black Oncom) and Oncom Merah (Orange Oncom)	Peanut press cake, tapioca, soybean curd starter	Fermented peanut press cake, roasted or fried	Neurosporaintermedia, N. crassa, N. sitophila (from red oncom), Rhi. oligosporus (from black oncom)	Indonesia	Ho, 1986
Ogiri / Ogili	Melon Seeds, castor oil seeds, pumpkin bean, sesame		B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. rimus, Pediococcus sp., Staph. saprophyticus, Lb. plantarum	West, East and Central Africa	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Okpehe	Seeds from Prosopis africana	Alkaline, sticky	B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. cereus, B. licheniformis	Nigeria	Oguntoyinbo et al., 2010
Soumbala	Locust bean	Alkaline, sticky	B. pumilus, B. atrophaeus, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. mojavensis, Lysininbacillus sphaericus. B. subtilis, B. thuringiensis, B. licheniformis, B. cereus, B. badius, B. firmus, B. megaterium, B. mycoides, B. sphaericus, Peanibacillus alvei, Peanibacillus larvae, Brevibacillus laterosporus	Burkina Faso	Ouoba et al., 2004
Shoyu	Soybean	Alkaline, liquid, seasoning	Asp. oryzae or Asp. sojae, Z. rouxii, C. versatilis	Japan, Korea, China	Sugawara, 2010
Sufu	Soybean curd	Mild-acidic, soft	Actinomucor elenans, Mu. silvatixus, Mu. corticolus, Mu. hiemalis, Mu. praini, Mu. racemosus, Mu. subtilissimus, Rhiz. chinensis	China, Taiwan	Han et al., 2001; Chao et al., 2008
Tauco	Soybean	Alkaline, paste, use as flavoring agent	Rhiz. oryzae, Rhiz. ologosporus, Asp. oryzae, Zygosaccharomyces soyae, Bacillus sp., Ent. hermanniensis, Lb. agilis, Lb. brevis, Lb. buchneri, Lb. crispatus, Lb. curvatus, Lb. delbrueckii, Lb. farciminis, Lb. fermentum, Lb. pantheris, Lb. salivarius, Lb. vaccinostercus, Lc. lactis, Lactococcus sp., Leuc. camosum, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. fallax, Leuc. lactis, Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. pseudomesenteroides, Ped. acidilactici, Strep. bovis, Strep. macedonicus, W. cibaria, W. confusa, W. paramesenteroides, W. soli	Indonesia	Winarno et al., 1973
Tempe	Soybean	Alkaline, solid, fried cake, breakfast	Rhiz. oligisporus, Rhiz. arrhizus, Rhiz. oryzae, Rhiz. stolonifer, Asp. niger, Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, K. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae subsp. ozaenae, Pseudomas fluorescens as vitamin B12-producing bacteria, Lb. fermentum, Lb. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. reuteri	Indonesia (Origin), The Netherlands, Japan, USA	Feng et al., 2005; Jennessen et al., 2008
Thua nao	Soybean	Alkaline, paste, dry, side dish	B. subtilis, B. pumilus, Lactobacillus sp.	Thailand	Chunhachart et al., 2006
Tungrymbai	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky, curry, soup	B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus	India	Chettri and Tamang, 2015
Ugba	African oil bean (Pentaclethra macrophylla)	Alkaline, flat, glossy, brown in color	B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis, Staph. saprophyticus	Nigeria	Ahaotu et al., 2013
Wari	Black gram	Ball-like, brittle, side dish	B. subtilis, Cand. curvata, Cand. famata, Cand. krusei, Cand. parapsilosis, Cand. vartiovaarai, Cryptococcus humicolus, Deb. hansenii, Deb. tamarii, Geotrichum candidum, Hansenula anomala, Kl. marxianus, Sacch. cerevisiae, Rhiz. lactosa, Ent. faecalis, Wingea robetsii, Trichosporon beigelii	India	Rani and Soni, 2007
Yandou	Soybean	Alkaline, sticky, salted, snack	B. subtilis	China	Qin et al., 2013

Species of Bacillus have been reported for several Asian fermented soybean foods (Sarkar et al., 2002; Tamang et al., 2002; Tamang, 2003; Park et al., 2005; Inatsu et al., 2006; Choi et al., 2007; Kimura and Itoh, 2007; Shon et al., 2007; Jeyaram et al., 2008b; Dajanta et al., 2009; Kwon et al., 2009; Kubo et al., 2011; Singh et al., 2014; Wongputtisin et al., 2014; Chettri and Tamang, 2015). However, B. subtilis is the dominant functional bacterium in Asian fermented soybean foods (Sarkar and Tamang, 1994; Tamang and Nikkuni, 1996; Dajanta et al., 2011). Japanese natto is the only Bacillus-fermented soybean food now produced by commercial monoculture starter B. natto, earlier isolated from naturally fermented natto by Sawamura (Sawamura, 1906). Ent. Faecium, as a minor population group, is also present in kinema (Sarkar et al., 1994), in okpehe (Oguntoyinbo et al., 2007), and in chungkukjang (Yoon et al., 2008).

Fermented root and tuber products

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) root is traditionally fermented into staple foods such as gari in Nigeria; fufu in Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria; agbelima in Ghana; chikawgue in Zaire; kivunde in Tanzania; kocho in Ethiopia; and foo foo in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana, respectively (Franz et al., 2014; Table 5). The initial stage of cassava fermentation is dominated by Corynebacterium manihot (Oyewole et al., 2004) with LAB succession (Lb. acidophilus, Lb. casei, Lb. fermentum, Lb. pentosus, Lb. plantarum, Oguntoyinbo and Dodd, 2010). Cassava root is also traditionally fermented into sweet dessert known as tapé in Indonesia (Tamang, 2010b).

Table 5.

Microorganisms isolated from some fermented root crop products of the world.

Product	Substrate/raw materials	Sensory property and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Chikwangue	Cassava	Solid state, staple	Species of Corynebacterium, Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Micrococcus, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Moraxella	Central Africa, Zaire	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Cingwada	Cassava	Solid state	Species of Corynebacterium, Bacillus., Lactobacillus, Micrococcus	East and Central Africa	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Fufu	Cassava	Submerged, staple	Bacillus sp., Lb. plantarum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. cellobiosus, Lb. brevis; Lb. coprophilus, Lc. lactis; Leuc. lactis, Lb. bulgaricus, Klebsiella sp., Leuconostoc sp., Corynebacterium sp., Candida sp.	West Africa	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Gari	Cassava	Solid state, staple	Corynebacterium mannihot, Geotrichum sp., Lb. plantarium, Lb. buchnerri, Leuconsostoc sp., Streptococcus sp.	West and Central Africa	Oyewole et al., 2004
Lafun /Konkonte	Cassava	Submerged, staple	Bacillus sp., Klebsiella sp., Candida sp., Aspergillus sp., Leuc. mesenteroides, Corynebacterium manihot, Lb. plantarum, Micrococcus luteus, Geotrichum candidum	West Africa	Odunfa and Oyewole, 1997
Tapé	Cassava	Sweet dessert	Streptococcus sp., Rhizopus sp., Saccharomycopsisfibuligera	Indonesia	Suprianto Ohba et al., 1989
Tapai Ubi	Cassava, Ragi	Sweet dessert	Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, Amylomyces rouxii, Mu. circinelloides, Mu. javanicus, Hansenula spp, Rhi. arrhizus, Rhi. oryzae, Rhi. chinensis	Malaysia	Merican and Yeoh, 1989

Fermented meat products

Fermented meat products are divided into two categories: those made from whole meat pieces or slices such as dried meat and jerky; and those made by chopping or comminuting the meat, usually called sausages (Adams, 2010). Traditionally fermented meat products of many countries have been well-documented (Table 6), such as fermented sausages (Lücke, 2015) and salami (Toldra, 2007) of Europe, jerky of America and Africa (Baruzzi et al., 2006), nham of Thailand (Chokesajjawatee et al., 2009), and nem chua of Vietnam (Nguyen et al., 2013b). The main microbial groups involved in meat fermentation are LAB (Albano et al., 2009; Cocolin et al., 2011; Khanh et al., 2011; Nguyen et al., 2013b), followed by coagulase-negative staphylococci, micrococci and Enterobacteriaceae (Cocolin et al., 2011; Marty et al., 2011), and depending on the product, some species of yeasts (Encinas et al., 2000; Tamang and Fleet, 2009), and molds, which may play a role in meat ripening (Lücke, 2015).

Table 6.

Microorganisms isolated from some common and uncommon fermented meat products of the world.

Product	Substrate/Raw materials	Sensory property and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Alheira	Pork or beef, bread chopped fat, spices, salt	Dry/Semi-dry, sausage	Lb. plantarum, Lb. paraplantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. rhamnosus, Lb. sakei, Lb. zeae, Lb. paracasei, Ent. faecalis, Ent. faecium, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus, Ped. acidilactici, W. cibaria, W. viridescens	Portugal	Albano et al., 2009
Androlla	Pork, coarse chopped, spices, salt	Dry, pork sausage	Lb. sake, Lb. curvatus, Lb. plantarum	Spain	Garcia-Fontan et al., 2007
Arjia	Large intestine of chevon	Sausage, curry	Ent. faecalis, Ent. faecium, Ent. hirae, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus, Weissella cibaria	India, Nepal	Oki et al., 2011
Chartayshya	Chevon	Dried, smoked meat, curry	Ent. faecalis, Ent. faecium, Ent. hirae, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. pentosaceus, Weissella cibaria	India	Oki et al., 2012
Chorizo	Pork	Dry, coarse chopped, spices, salt; sausage	Lb. sake, Lb. curvatus, Lb. plantarum	Spain	Garcia-Fontan et al., 2007
Kargyong	Yak, beef, pork, crushed garlic, ginger, salt	Sausage like meat product, curry	Lb. sakei, Lb. divergens, Lb. carnis, Lb. sanfranciscensis, Lb. curvatus, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, B. subtilis, B. mycoides, B. thuringiensis, Staph. aureus, Micrococcus sp., Deb. hansenii, Pic. anomala	India	Rai et al., 2010
Nham (Musom)	Pork meat, pork skin, salt, rice, garlic	Fermented pork	Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis	Thailand	Chokesajjawatee et al., 2009
Nem-chua	Pork, salt, cooked rice	Fermented sausage	Lb. pentosus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Lb. paracasei, Lb. fermentum, Lb. acidipiscis, Lb. farciminis, Lb. rossiae, Lb. fuchuensis, Lb. namurensis, Lc. lactis, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. fallax, Ped. acidilactici, Ped. pentosaceus, Ped. stilesii, Weissella cibaria, W. paramesenteroides	Vietnam	Nguyen et al., 2011
Pastirma	Chopped beef meat with lamb fat, heavily seasoned	Dry/semi-dry, sausage	Lb. plantarum, Lb. sake, Pediococcus, Micrococcus, Staph. xylosus, Staph. carnosus	Turkey, Iraq	Aksu et al., 2005
Peperoni	Pork, beef	Dried meat, smoked, sausage	Species of LAB, Micrococcus spp.	Europe, America, Australia	Adams, 2010
Sai-krok-prieo	Pork, rice, garlic, salt	Fermented sausage	Lb. plantarum, Lb. salivarius, Ped. pentosacuns	Thailand	Adams, 2010
Salchichon	Pork or beef meat, fat, NaCl, spices	Dry, sausage	Species of LAB, Staph. spp., Micrococcus spp., enterobacteriaceae, molds	Spain	Fernandez-Lopez et al., 2008
Salsiccia	Chopped pork meat, spices, NaCl	Dry/ semi-dry, sausage	Species of LAB, Staph. spp., Micrococcus spp., enterobacteriaceae, yeast	Italy	Parente et al., 2001a,b
Soppressata	Chopped lean pork meat, NaCl and spices	Dry/ semi-dry, sausage	Species of LAB, Staph. spp., Micrococcus spp., enterobacteriaceae, yeast	Italy	Parente et al., 1994
Sucuk	Chopped meat, pork or beef, curing salts and various spices	Dry, sausage	Species of LAB, Staph. spp., Micrococcus spp., enterobacteriaceae	Turkey	Genccelep et al., 2008
Suka ko masu	Goat, buffalo meat, turmeric powder, mustard oil, salt	Dried or smoked meat, curry	Lb. carnis, Ent. faecium, Lb. plantarum, B. subtilis, B. mycoides, B. thuringiensis, Staph. aureus, Micrococcus sp., Debaromyces hansenii, Pic. burtonii	India	Rai et al., 2010
Tocino	Pork, salt, sugar, potassium nitrate	Fermented cured pork	Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. brevis, Leuc. mesenteroides	Philippines	Alexandraki et al., 2013

Fermented fish products

Preservation of fish through fermentation, sun/smoke drying and salting (Table 7) is traditionally practiced by people living nearby coastal regions, lakes, and rivers and is consumed as seasoning, condiments, and side dishes (Salampessy et al., 2010). Several species of bacteria and yeasts have been reported from fermented and traditionally preserved fish products of the world (Kobayashi et al., 2000a,b,c; Wu et al., 2000; Thapa et al., 2004, 2006, 2007; Saithong et al., 2010; Hwanhlem et al., 2011; Romi et al., 2015).

Table 7.

Microorganisms isolated from some common and uncommon fermented fish products of the world.

Product	Substrate/raw materials	Sensory property and nature	Microorganisms	Country	References
Balao-balao (Burong Hipon Tagbilao)	Shrimp, rice, salt	Fermented rice shrimp, condiment	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Ent. faecalis	Philippines	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Belacan (Blacan)	Shrimp, salt	Paste, condiment	Bacillus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus, Micrococcus, Sarcina, Clostridium, Brevibacterium, Flavobacterium, Corynebacteria	Malaysia	Salampessy et al., 2010
Bakasang	Fish, shrimp	Paste, condiment	Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Moraxella, Micrococcus, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Pseudomonas, Moraxella, Staphylococcus, Pediococcus spp.	Indonesia	Ijong and Ohta, 1996
Burong Bangus	Milkfish, rice, salt, vinegar	Fermented milkfish, sauce	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. plantarum, W. confusus	Philippines	Dalmacio et al., 2011
Burong Isda	Fish, rice, salt	Fermented fish, sauce	Leuc. mesenteroides, Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. plantarum, Strep. faecalis, Micrococcus sp.	Philippines	Sakai et al., 1983
Budu	Marine fishes, salt, sugar	Muslim sauce, fish sauce	Ped. halophilus, Staph. aureus, Staph. epidermidis, B. subtilis, B. laterosporus, Proteus sp., Micrococcus sp., Sarcina sp., Corynebacterium sp.	Thailand, Malayasia	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Gnuchi	Fish (Schizothorax richardsonii), salt, turmeric powder	Eat as curry	Lb. plantarum, Lact. lactis, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, Ent. faecalis, Ped. pentosaceus, Cand. chiropterorum, Cand. bombicola, Saccharomycopsis sp.	India	Tamang et al., 2012
Gulbi	Shell-fish	Salted and dried, side dish	Bacillus licheniformis, Staphylococcus sp., Aspergillus sp., Candida sp.	Korea	Kim et al., 1993
Hentak	Finger sized fish (Esomus danricus)	Condiment	Lact. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. fructosus, Lb. amylophilus, Lb. coryniformis, Ent. faecium, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, Micrococcus sp., Candida sp., Saccharomycopsis sp.	India	Thapa et al., 2004
Hoi-malaeng pu-dong	Mussel (Mytilus smaragdinus), salt	Fermented mussel	Ped. halophilus, Staph. aureus, Staph. epidermidis	Thailand	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Ika-Shiokara	Squid, salt	Fermented squid	Micrococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Debaryomyces sp.	Japan	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Jeotkal	Fish	High-salt fermented, staple	LAB, halophilicFirmicutes including Staphylococcus, Salimicrobium, and Alkalibacillus. Also Halanaerobium and halophilic archaea.	Korea	Guan et al., 2011; Jung et al., 2013b
Karati, Bordia, Lashim	Fish (Gudushia chapra, Pseudeutropius atherinoides, Cirrhinus reba), salt	Dried, salted, side dish	Lact. lactis, Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. plantarum, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, Candida sp.	India	Thapa et al., 2007
Kusaya	Horse mackerel, salt	Fermented dried fish	Corynebacterium kusaya, Spirillum sp., C. bifermentans, Penicillium sp.	Japan	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Myulchijeot	Small sardine, salt	Fermented sardine	Ped. cerevisiae, Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp.	Korea	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Narezushi	Sea water fish, cooked millet, salt	Fermented fish-rice	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. plantarum	Japan	Alexandraki et al., 2013
Nam pla (Nampla-dee, Nampla-sod)	Solephorus sp., Ristelliger sp. Cirrhinus sp., water, salt	Fish sauce	Species of Micrococcus., Pediococcus, Staphylococcus., Streptococcus., Sarcina., Bacillus., Lactobacillus, Corynebacterium, Pseudomonas, Halococcus, Halobacterium	Thailand	Saisithi, 1987
Ngari	Fish (Puntius sophore), salt	Fermented fish	Lact. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Lb. pobuzihii, Lb. fructosus, Lb. amylophilus, Lb. coryniformis, Ent. faecium, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B indicu, s Micrococcus sp., Staphy. cohnii subsp. cohnii, Staphy. carnosus, Tetragenococcus halophilus subsp. flandriensis, Clostridium irregular, Azorhizobium caulinodans, Candida sp., Saccharomycopsis sp.	India	Thapa et al., 2004; Devi et al., 2015
Nuoc mam	Marne fish	Fish sauce, condiment	Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Micrococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Halococcus sp., Halobacterium salinarium, H. cutirubrum	Vietnam	Lopetcharat et al., 2001
Patis	Stolephorus sp., Clupea sp., Decapterus sp., Leionathus sp., salt	Fish sauce	Ped. halophilus, Micrococcus sp., Halobacterium sp., Halococcus sp., Bacillus sp.	Philippines, Indonesia	Steinkraus, 1996
Pla-paeng-daeng	Marine fish, red molds rice (Ang-kak), salt	Red fermented fish	Pediococcus sp., Ped. halophilus, Staph. aureus, Staph. epidermidis,	Thailand	Phithakpol et al., 1995
Pla-som (Pla-khao-sug)	Marine fish, salt, boiled rice, garlic	Fermented fish, condiment	Ped. cerevisiae, Lb. brevis, Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp.	Thailand	Saithong et al., 2010
Saeoo Jeot (Jeotkal)	Shrimp (Acetes chinensis), salt	Fermented shrimp	Halobacterium sp., Pediococcus sp.	Korea	Guan et al., 2011
Shidal	Puntis	Semi-fermented, unsalted product; 4–6 months fermentation; curry/pickle	Staphy. aureus, Micrococcus spp., Bacillus spp., E. coli)	India, Bangladesh	Muzaddadi, 2015
Shottsuru	Anchovy, opossum shrimp, salt	Fish sauce, condiment	Halobacterium sp., Aerococcus viridians (Ped. homari), halotolerant and halophilic yeasts	Japan	Itoh et al., 1993
Sidra	Fish (Punitus sarana)	Dried fish, curry	Lact. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, Ent. facalis, Ped. pentosaceus, W. confusa, Cand. chiropterorum, Cand. bombicola, Saccharomycopsis sp.	India	Thapa et al., 2006
Sikhae	Sea water fish, cooked millet, salt	Fermented fish-rice, sauce	Leuc. mesenteroides, Lb. plantarum	Korea	Lee, 1993
Suka ko maacha	River fish (Schizothorax richardsoni), salt, turmeric powder	Smoked, dried, curry	Lact. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, Ent. faecalis, Ped. pentosaceus, Cand. chiropterorum, Cand. bombicola, Saccharomycopsis sp.	India	Thapa et al., 2006
Sukuti	Fish (Harpodon nehereus)	Pickle, soup and curry	Lact. lactis, Lb. plantarum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Ent. faecium, Ent. faecalis, Ped. pentosaceus, Cand. chiropterorum, Cand. bombicola, Saccharomycopsis sp.	India	Thapa et al., 2006
Surströmming	Fish	Fermented herrings	Haloanaerobium praevalens	Sweden	Kobayashi et al., 2000a
Tungtap	Fish	Fermented fish, paste, pickle	Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris, Lc. plantarumEnt. faecium, Lb. fructosus, Lb. amylophilus, Lb. corynifomis subsp. torquens, Lb. plantarum, Lb. puhozi, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, Micrococcus, yeasts-species of Candida, Saccharomycopsis	India	Thapa et al., 2004; Rapsang et al., 2011

Miscellaneous fermented products

Vinegar is one of the most popular condiments in the world and is prepared from sugar or ethanol containing substrates and hydrolyzed starchy materials by aerobic conversion to acetic acid (Solieri and Giudici, 2008). Acetobacter aceti subsp. aceti, Acetobacter pasteurianus, Acetobacter polyxygenes, Acetobacter xylinum, Acetobacter malorum, Acetobacter pomorum dominate during vinegar production (Haruta et al., 2006), while yeast species such as Candida lactis-condensi, Candida stellata, Hanseniaspora valbyensis, Hanseniaspora osmophila, Saccharomycodes ludwigii, Sacch. cerevisiae, Zygosaccharomyces bailii, Zygosaccharomyces bisporus, Zygosaccharomyces lentus, Zygosaccharomyces mellis, Zygosaccharomyces Pseudorouxii, and Zygosaccharomyces Rouxii have also been reported (Sengun and Karabiyikli, 2011).

Though normal black tea is consumed everywhere, some ethnic Asian communities enjoy special fermented teas such as miang of Thailand (Tanasupawat et al., 2007) and puer tea, fuzhuan brick, and kombucha of China (Mo et al., 2008). Aspergillus niger is the predominant fungus in puer tea while Blastobotrys adeninivorans, Asp. glaucus, species of Penicillium, Rhizopus, and Saccharomyces and the bacterial species Actinoplanes and Streptomyces are isolated (Jeng et al., 2007; Abe et al., 2008). Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Saccharomyces spp., Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Zygosaccharomyces bailii, Zygosaccharomyces bisporus, Zygosaccharomyces kombuchaensis, and Zygosaccharomyces microellipsoides are also isolated from kombucha (Kurtzman et al., 2001; Teoh et al., 2004). Major bacterial genera present in kombucha are Gluconacetobacter. However, Marsh et al. (2014) reported the predominance of Lactobacillus, Acetobacter, and Zygosaccharomyces. Lb. thailandensis, Lb. camelliae, Lb. plantarum, Lb. pentosus, Lb. vaccinostercus, Lb. pantheris, Lb. fermentum, Lb. suebicus, Ped. siamensis, Ent. casseliflavus and Ent. camelliae in the fermentation of miang production (Sukontasing et al., 2007; Tanasupawat et al., 2007). Species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Eurotium are major fungi for fermentation of fuzhuan brick tea (Mo et al., 2008).

Nata or bacterial cellulose produced by Acetobacter xylinum is a delicacy of the Philippines, eaten as candy (Chinte-Sanchez, 2008; Jagannath et al., 2010; Adams, 2014). Two types of nata are well-known: nata de piña, produced on the juice from pineapple trimmings, and nata de coco, produced on coconut water or coconut skim milk (Adams, 2014). Bacterial cellulose has significant potential as a food ingredient in view of its high purity, in situ change of flavor and color, and having the ability to form various shapes and textures (Shi et al., 2014).

Chocolate is a product of cocoa bean fermentation where Lb. fermentum and Acetobacter pasteurianus are reported as the predominating bacterial species (Lefeber et al., 2010; Papalexandratou et al., 2011). Diverse LAB species appear to be typically associated with the fermentation of cocoa beans in Ghana, which include Lb. ghanensis (Nielsen et al., 2007), Weissella ghanensis (de Bruyne et al., 2008a), Lb. cacaonum, and Lb. fabifermentans (de Bruyne et al., 2009), and Weissella fabaria (de Bruyne et al., 2010). Fructobacillus pseudoficulneus, Lb. plantarum, Acetobacter senegalensis, and the enterobacteria Tatumella ptyseos and Tatumella citrea are among the prevailing species during the initial phase of cocoa fermentations (Papalexandratou et al., 2011). Yeasts involved during spontaneous cocoa fermentation are Hanseniaspora uvarum, Hanseniaspora quilliermundii, Issatchenkia orientalis (Candida krusei), Pichia membranifaciens, Sacch. Cerevisiae, and Kluyveromyces species for flavor development (Schillinger et al., 2010).

Pidan is a preserved egg prepared from alkali-treated fresh duck eggs and is consumed by the Chinese, and has a strong hydrogen sulfide and ammonia smell (Ganasen and Benjakul, 2010). The main alkaline chemical reagent used for making pidan is sodium hydroxide, which is produced by the reaction of sodium carbonate, water, and calcium oxide of pickle or coating mud. B. cereus, B. macerans, Staph. cohnii, Staph. epidermidis, Staph. Haemolyticus, and Staph. warneri are predominant in pidan (Wang and Fung, 1996).

Amylolytic starters

Traditional way of culturing the essential microorganisms (consortia of filamentous molds, amylolytic, and alcohol-producing yeasts and LAB) with rice or wheat as the base in the form of dry, flattened or round balls, for production of alcoholic beverages is a remarkable discovery in the food history of Asian people, which is exclusively practiced in South-East Asia including the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China (Tibet; Hesseltine, 1983; Tamang, 2010a). Around 1–2% of previously prepared amylolytic starters are inoculated into the dough, and mixed cultures are allowed to develop for a short time, then dried, and used to make either alcohol or fermented foods from starchy materials (Tamang et al., 1996). Asian amylolytic starters have different vernacular names such as marcha in India and Nepal; hamei, humao, phab in India; mana and manapu of Nepal; men in Vietnam; ragi in Indonesia; bubod in Philippines; chiu/chu in China and Taiwan; loogpang in Thailand; mae/dombae/buh/puh in Cambodia; and nuruk in Korea (Hesseltine and Kurtzman, 1990; Nikkuni et al., 1996; Sujaya et al., 2004; Thanh et al., 2008; Yamamoto and Matsumoto, 2011; Tamang et al., 2012).

Microbial profiles of amylolytic starters of India, Nepal, and Bhutan are filamentous molds like, Mucor circinelloides forma circinelloides, Mucor hiemalis, Rhi. chinensis, and Rhi. stolonifer variety lyococcus (Tamang et al., 1988); yeasts like Sacch. cerevisiae, Sacch. bayanus, Saccharomycopsis (Sm.) fibuligera, Sm. capsularis, Pichia anomala, Pic. burtonii, and Candida glabrata; (Tamang and Sarkar, 1995; Shrestha et al., 2002; Tsuyoshi et al., 2005; Tamang et al., 2007; Jeyaram et al., 2008a, 2011; Chakrabarty et al., 2014); and species of LAB namely Ped. pentosaceus, Lb. bifermentans, and Lb. brevis (Hesseltine and Ray, 1988; Tamang and Sarkar, 1995; Tamang et al., 2007; Chakrabarty et al., 2014). A diversity of yeasts (Candida tropicalis, Clavispora lusitaniae, Pichia anomala, Pichia ranongensis, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, Sacch. cerevisiae, Issatchenkia sp.); filamentous molds (Absidia corymbifera, Amylomyces rouxii, Botryobasidium subcoronatum, Rhizopus oryzae, Rhi. microsporus, Xeromyces bisporus); LAB (Ped. pentosaceus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis, Weissella confusa, Weissella paramesenteroides); amylase-producing bacilli (Bacillus subtilis, B. circulans, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. sporothermodurans); and acetic acid bacteria (Acetobacter orientalis, A. pasteurianus) is present in men, a starter culture of Vietnam (Dung et al., 2006, 2007; Thanh et al., 2008).

A combination of Asp. oryzae and Asp. sojae is used in koji in Japan to produce alcoholic beverages including saké (Zhu and Trampe, 2013). Koji (Chinese chu, shi, or qu) also produces amylases that convert starch to fermentable sugars, which are then used for the second stage yeast fermentation to make non-alcoholic fermented soybean miso and shoyu (Sugawara, 2010). Asp. awamori, Asp. kawachii, Asp. oryzae, Asp. shirousamii, and Asp. sojae have been widely used as the starter in preparation of koji for production of miso, saké, shoyu, shochu (Suganuma et al., 2007).

Alcoholic beverages

Tamang (2010c) classified alcoholic beverages of the world into 10 types:

1. Non-distilled and unfiltered alcoholic beverages produced by amylolytic starters e.g., kodo ko jaanr (fermented finger millets; Thapa and Tamang, 2004) and bhaati jaanr (fermented rice) of India and Nepal (Tamang and Thapa, 2006), makgeolli (fermented rice) of Korea (Jung et al., 2012).

2. Non-distilled and filtered alcoholic beverages produced by amylolytic starters e.g., saké of Japan (Kotaka et al., 2008).

3. Distilled alcoholic beverages produced by amylolytic starter e.g., shochu of Japan, and soju of Korea (Steinkraus, 1996).

4. Alcoholic beverages produced by involvement of amylase in human saliva e.g., chicha of Peru (Vallejo et al., 2013).

5. Alcoholic beverages produced by mono- (single-strain) fermentation e.g., beer (Kurtzman and Robnett, 2003).

6. Alcoholic beverages produced from honey e.g., tej of Ethiopia (Bahiru et al., 2006).

7. Alcoholic beverages produced from plant parts e.g., pulque of Mexico (Lappe-Oliveras et al., 2008), toddy of India (Shamala and Sreekantiah, 1988), and kanji of India (Kingston et al., 2010).

8. Alcoholic beverages produced by malting (germination) e.g., sorghum (“Bantu”) beer of South Africa (Kutyauripo et al., 2009), pito of Nigeria, and Ghana (Kolawole et al., 2013), and tchoukoutou of Benin (Greppi et al., 2013a).

9. Alcoholic beverages prepared from fruits without distillation e.g., wine, cider.

10. Distilled alcoholic beverages prepared from fruits and cereals e.g., whisky and brandy.

Non-distilled mild-alcoholic food beverages produced by amylolytic starters

The biological process of liquefaction and saccharification of cereal starch by filamentous molds and yeasts, supplemented by amylolytic starters, under solid-state fermentation is one of the two major stages of production of alcoholic beverages in Asia (Tamang, 2010c). These alcoholic beverages are mostly considered as food beverage and eaten as staple food with high calorie in many parts of Asia, e.g., kodo ko jaanr of the Himalayan regions in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China (Tibet) with 5% alcohol content (Thapa and Tamang, 2004). Saccharifying activities are mostly shown by Rhizopus spp. and Sm. fibuligera whereas, liquefying activities are shown by Sm. fibuligera and Sacch. cerevisiae (Thapa and Tamang, 2006). Rhizopus, Amylomyces, Torulopsis, and Hansenula are present in lao-chao, a popular ethnic fermented rice beverage of China (Wei and Jong, 1983). During fermentation of Korean makgeolli (prepared from rice by amylolytic starter nuruk), the proportion of the Saccharomycetaceae family increases significantly and the major bacterial phylum of the samples shifts from γ-Proteobacteria to Firmicutes (Jung et al., 2012).

Non-distilled and filtered alcoholic beverages produced by amylolytic starters

Alcoholic beverages produced by amylolytic starter (koji) are not distilled but the extract of fermented cereals is filtered into clarified high alcohol-content liquor, like in sake, which is a national drink of Japan containing 15–20% alcohol (Tamang, 2010c). Improved strains of Asp. oryzae are used for saké production in industrial scale (Kotaka et al., 2008; Hirasawa et al., 2009).

Distilled alcoholic beverages produced by amylolytic starters

This category of alcoholic drinks is the clear distillate of high alcohol content prepared as drink from fermented cereal beverages by using amylolytic starters. Raksi is an ethnic alcoholic (22–27% v/v) drink of the Himalayas with aromatic characteristic, and distilled from the traditionally fermented cereal beverages (Kozaki et al., 2000).

Alcoholic beverages produced by human saliva

Chicha is a unique ethnic fermented alcoholic (2–12% v/v) beverage of Andes Indian race of South America mostly in Peru, prepared from maize by human salivation process (Hayashida, 2008). Sacch. cerevisiae, Sacch. apiculata, Sacch. pastorianus, species of Lactobacillus and Acetobacter are present in chicha (Escobar et al., 1996). Sacch. cerevisiae was isolated from chicha and identified using MALDI-TOF (Vallejo et al., 2013). Species of Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus, Streptomyces, Enterobacter, Acinetobacter, Escherichia, Cronobacter, Klebsiella, Bifidobacterium, and Propioniobacterium have been reported from chicha of Brazil (Puerari et al., 2015).

Alcoholic beverages produced from honey

Some alcoholic beverages are produced from honey e.g., tej of Ethiopia. It is a yellow, sweet, effervescent and cloudy alcoholic (7–14% v/v) beverage (Steinkraus, 1996). Sacch. cerevisiae, Kluyvermyces bulgaricus, Debaromyces phaffi, and Kl. veronae, and LAB species of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Leuconostoc, and Pediococcus are responsible for tej fermentation (Bahiru et al., 2006).

Alcoholic beverages produced from plant parts

Pulque is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages prepared from juices of the cactus (Agave) plant of Mexico (Steinkraus, 2002). Bacteria present during the fermentation of pulque were LAB (Lc. lactis subsp. lactis, Lb. acetotolerans, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. hilgardii, Lb. kefir, Lb. plantarum, Leuc. citreum, Leuc. kimchi, Leuc. mesenteroides, Leuc. pseudomesenteroides), the γ-Proteobacteria (Erwinia rhapontici, Enterobacter spp., and Acinetobacter radioresistens, several α-Proteobacteria), Zymomonas mobilis, Acetobacter malorum, A. pomorium, Microbacterium arborescens, Flavobacterium johnsoniae, Gluconobacter oxydans, and Hafnia alvei (Escalante et al., 2004, 2008). Yeasts isolated from pulque are Saccharomyces (Sacch. bayanus, Sacch. cerevisiae, Sacch. paradoxus) and non-Saccharomyces (Candida spp., C. parapsilosis, Clavispora lusitaniae, Hanseniaspora uvarum, Kl. lactis, Kl. marxianus, Pichia membranifaciens, Pichia spp., Torulaspora delbrueckii; Lappe-Oliveras et al., 2008).

Depending on the region, traditional alcoholic drinks prepared from palm juice called “palm wine” are known by various names, e.g., toddy or tari in India, mu, bandji, ogogoro, nsafufuo, nsamba, mnazi, yongo, taberna, tua, or tubak in West Africa and South America (Ouoba et al., 2012). Microorganisms that are responsible for toddy fermentation are Sacch. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Acetobacter aceti, A. rancens, A. suboxydans, Leuc. dextranicum (mesenteroides), Micrococcus sp., Pediococcus sp., Bacillus sp., and Sarcina sp. (Shamala and Sreekantiah, 1988).

Kanji is an ethnic Indian strong-flavored mild alcoholic beverage prepared from beet-root and carrot by natural fermentation (Batra and Millner, 1974). Hansenlu anomala, Candida guilliermondii, C. tropicalis, Geotrichium candidum, Leuc. mesenteroides, Pediococcus sp., Lb. paraplantarum, and Lb. pentosus are present in kanji (Batra and Millner, 1976; Kingston et al., 2010).

Alcoholic beverages produced by malting or germination

Bantu beer or sorghum beer of Bantu tribes of South Africa is an alcoholic beverage produced by malting or germination process (Taylor, 2003). Malted beer is common in Africa with different names e.g., as bushera or muramba in Uganda, chibuku in Zimbabwe, dolo, burkutu, and pito in West Africa and ikigage in Rwanda (Myuanja et al., 2003; Sawadogo-Lingani et al., 2007; Lyumugabe et al., 2012). Sorghum (Sorghum caffrorum or S. vulgare) is malted (Kutyauripo et al., 2009), characterized by a two-stage (lactic followed by alcoholic) fermentation, with Lb. fermentum as the dominating LAB species (Sawadogo-Lingani et al., 2007).

Alcoholic beverages produced from fruits without distillation

The most common example of alcoholic beverages produced from fruits without distillation is wine, which is initiated by the growth of various species of Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces (so-called “wild”) yeasts (e.g., Candida colliculosa, C. stellata, Hanseniaspora uvarum, Kloeckera apiculata, Kl. thermotolerans, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Metschnikowia pulcherrima; Pretorius, 2000; Moreira et al., 2005; Sun et al., 2014; Walker, 2014). Candida sp. and Cladosporium sp. were isolated from fermenting white wine using mCOLD-PCR-DGGE, but had not been detected by conventional PCR (Takahashi et al., 2014). Sacch. cerevisiae strains developed during wine fermentations play an active role in developing the characteristics of a wine (Capece et al., 2013). Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD; www.yeastgenome.org) provides free of charge access or links to comprehensive datasets comprising genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic information (Pretorius et al., 2015).

Conclusions

Every community in the world has distinct food culture including fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, symbolizing the heritage and socio-cultural aspects of the ethnicity. The word “culture” denotes food habits of ethnicity; another meaning for the same word “culture” is a cluster of microbial cells or inoculum, an essential biota for fermentation, often used in the microbiology. The diversity of functional microorganisms ranges from filamentous molds to enzyme-producing and alcohol-producing yeasts, and from Gram-positive to a few Gram-negative bacteria, while even Archaea has been ascribed roles in some fermented foods and alcoholic beverages. However, consumption of lesser known and uncommon ethnic fermented foods is declining due to the change in lifestyles that is shifting from cultural food habits to commercial foodstuffs and fast foods, drastically affecting traditional culinary practices, and also due to the climate change in some environments such as the Sahel region in Africa and the vast areas adjacent to the Gobi desert in Asia.

Author contributions

JT: contributed 50% of review works. WH, contributed 25% of review. KW contributed 25% of review.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.