Functional Food Biotechnology: The Use of Native and Genetically Engineered Lactic Acid Bacteria

Abstract

The fact that certain foods can exert beneficial effects beyond their intrinsic nutritional values has led to the development of functional foods. The increase in nutraceutical content to obtain functional foods through the use of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can be done by the appropriate selection of strains. However, genetic engineering of LAB allows the creation of microorganisms that are more efficient in producing nutraceuticals in sufficient quantities to exert biological effects. Another mechanism by which LAB can be used to produce functional foods is their use as probiotic microorganisms, which are live microorganisms than when administered in adequate amounts can confer a health benefit on the host. In this Chapter, the use of native and genetically engineered LAB as nutraceutical factories or probiotic microorganisms, in order to obtain functional foods will be discussed.