Processing with Microbes

Microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds are common contaminants of food, but some of them also are critical to processing foods. Much of our usual concern in process development and sanitary design is how to kill and prevent the growth of microbes. What about when we want the benefits of microbes? Oversimplifying somewhat, we need to know what the favorable growth conditions for the microbe of interest are, and we had better know what they do for us. Here we will consider some of the …