Abstract
Biotechnology is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or any technological applications that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the fields of bioengineering and biomedical engineering. Some of the applications were identified in this paper to include biotechnology in food fermentation to enhance properties such as the taste, aroma, shelf-life, texture and nutritional value of food. Biotechnology in the production of enzymes to bring about desirable changes in food, biotechnology in the production of food ingredients; flavours, fragrances, food additives and a range of other high valued-added products, genetically modified starter cultures, genetically modified foods, the use of all these modern technologies in diagnostics for food testing, the role of biotechnology in food production by increasing food production, improved harvesting, storage and nutritional value, better raw materials, better flavour and the production of food containing vaccines, the safety of food produced with biotechnology as well as the risks and benefits of biotechnology in food production.
Highlights
Biotechnology is defined as any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof to make or modify products or processes for specific use (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, 2002)
Fermentation processing is widely applied in the production of microbial cultures, enzymes, flavours, fragrances, food additives and a range of other high valueadded products
Traditional methods of genetic improvement such as classical mutagenesis and conjugation have been the basis of industrial starter culture development in bacteria, while hybridisation has been used in the improvement of yeast strains which are widely applied industrially in baking and brewing applications (Barallon et al, 1996)
Summary
Biotechnology is defined as any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof to make or modify products or processes for specific use (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, 2002). Fermentation processing is widely applied in the production of microbial cultures, enzymes, flavours, fragrances, food additives and a range of other high valueadded products. These high value products are increasingly produced in more technologically advanced developing countries for use in their food and non-food processing applications. Traditional methods of food-safety monitoring such as the detection of pathogenic bacteria in food are generally based on the use of culture media. These are the techniques of choice in low- and lowermiddle-income economies which lack the resources, infrastructure and technical capacity to utilize modern biotechnological techniques. Lower-middleincome economies apply both traditional and more sophisticated methods for monitoring the microbiological quality of foods and their conformance to international standards (FAO, 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
