Recent Biotechnological Advances in Food Additives

Food additives are substances incorporated into foods to improve quality, nutritional value, functional properties, and consumer acceptance. There is a tendency to replace synthetic additives by natural ones not only because of toxicity of the first but also because natural additives can enhance the characteristics of foodstuff. In this sense, the use of bioprocess technologies can improve the production of natural substances by using wild or genetically modified microorganisms, metabolic engineering, or simply by developing new food formulations. The major goal of this chapter is to present the main food additives used nowadays, mainly focusing on the ones produced via biotechnology. The food additives discussed include amino acids, antimicrobial peptides, colorants, organic acids, vitamins, and sweeteners. Although there are many food additives biotechnologically produced on research level, a lot of effort is required to improve their production yields and reduce their overall cost, enabling their large industrial production and commercialization. Anyway, food additives need to be approved by the regulatory authorities before they become industrially favorable. Despite this, biotechnology seems to be very promising in producing natural food additives. Some of the advances in this area are described in the present chapter.

Keywords: Additives, Amino Acids, Antimicrobials, Biotechnology, Colorants, Natural Compounds, Organic Acids, Sweeteners, Vitamins.