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In recent years, the term “postbiotics” has become increasingly popular in food microbiology, food science, and commercial products. This importance has been raised due to the safety issues associated with live bacterial cells. Postbiotics are defined as bioactive substances of probiotics. It confers unique health-promoting functions with its chemical structure, safe profile, and long shelf life. Meanwhile, postbiotics nanoparticles (postbiotics-NPs) can be considered novel postbiotic delivery systems to deliver bioactive components with health benefits and therapeutic aims, promote the shelf-life of food products, and develop novel functional foods. The present scientific literature shows that nanotechnology approaches are not yet mature enough to be used in postbiotic delivery systems. For all of that, the potential applications of postbiotics-NPs in the food industry and biomedical fields will be a new trend in the future.

Background: Traditional fermented foods from Türkiye are integral components of the nation’s culinary heritage, reflecting a remarkable diversity shaped by local practices and ecosystems. These products embody region-specific microbial communities, often conceptualized as a “microbial terroir,” which influence their sensory qualities, nutritional value, and health-promoting properties. Methods: This study followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and included a systematic review and bibliometric analysis. A structured search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) on 15 January 2025 using predefined keywords related to Turkish fermented foods and fermentation processes. Records were screened based on language (English or Turkish) and document type (articles, reviews, book chapters, and early access). A total of 1464 studies met the eligibility criteria, reflecting a 2.81% annual growth rate and a 12.7% international co-authorship rate. Bibliometric analysis was performed using the bibliometrix R package (RStudio 2024.12.1) and the biblioshiny interface. Results: The analysis revealed that the diversity of microbial consortia in Turkish fermented foods contributes to their distinctive characteristics, including enhanced nutritional profiles, probiotic potential, and food safety attributes. Emerging studies employing omics technologies—such as next-generation sequencing, metagenomics, and metabolomics—have expanded our understanding of fermentation ecosystems. Additionally, the growing integration of artificial intelligence supports predictive modeling and process optimization for advanced quality control. Conclusion: This synthesis highlights the significant technological, nutritional, and cultural value of Türkiye’s traditional fermented foods. Future directions should include omics-based translational research, indigenous starter culture development, and strengthened international collaborations to support sustainable and competitive functional food innovation.

The aim of this research was to investigate the antifungal potential of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from Turkish spontaneous sourdough collected in summer and winter seasons from 25 different small bakeries in Trabzon, Giresun, Ordu, and Samsun. Lactic acid bacteria (933 isolates) were screened for inhibition of three common food spoilage molds (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, and Penicillium expansum). Eight LAB isolates identified as Weissella cibaria 908, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum 2114, Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides 2619, L. plantarum subsp. plantarum 2702, Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis 2709, Levilactobacillus brevis 2216Y, L. pentosus Y118, and L. plantarum subsp. plantarum Y201 by 16 S rRNA sequencing, which were found to have high antifungal activity against all the test molds. The antifungal activity of cell free supernatants from LAB isolates was not altered after thermal treatment and proteolytic enzyme proteinase K. The cell free supernatants obtained from LAB showed a high antifungal effect against molds with inhibition zone diameter up to 20 mm at pH 3.0, but no inhibitory activity was determined after pH neutralization. Moreover, all cell free suspension samples were able to maintain their efficacy up to a 1:4 dilution. The antifungal activity of supernatants was mostly related to organic acid content, especially lactic acid ranged from 4.33 to 8.41 g/L. The results indicated that eight bacterial isolates obtained from spontaneous Turkish sourdough could constitute biopreservative cultures, which may be used in food industry.

The principle objective of this study was to investigate the use of three different lactic acid bacteria ( Lactobacillus curvatus N19, Weissella cibaria N9 and L. brevis ED25) lyophilized with optimum cryoprotective agent formulations as Type II sourdough culture to develop sourdough bread in terms of physicochemical, textural and sensory characteristics as well as volatile aroma compounds. Compared to control sample (fermented only commercial yeast), specific volume, crust and crumb color, and textural properties were markedly more acceptable for sourdough bread. The concentration of lactic (2.12–2.87 g/kg) and acetic (0.43–0.77 g/kg) acids in the sourdough bread was significantly higher compared to control sample (0.28 and 0.09 g/kg, respectively). A total of 57 volatile compounds including 13 alcohols, 9 esters, 8 ketones, 13 aldehydes, 10 acid group components, and 4 other compounds (such as oxidation product amine, terpene, sulfur compounds, organic compounds) were detected. Among these compounds, alcohols and aldehydes were significantly higher in control sample, while the ratio of acids was found to be higher in sourdough breads. The evaluation scores of the sourdough breads had desirable sensory features, but in terms of general acceptance values, it was concluded that those containing L. brevis ED25 was more preferred.

The technological and probiotic characteristics of a number of Lactobacillus plantarum strains (previously isolated and identified from traditionally produced fermented vegetables) were compared, with the aim of identifying potential starter cultures to be used for the fermentation of vegetables. The L. plantarum strains were differentiated by their plasmid profiles; 12 separate strains with different plasmid profiles were examined. Other than survival in different concentrations of NaCl, the technological characteristics of all the strains examined were similar. However, strain-dependent variations in probiotic features were observed, with low pH in particular found to be a restrictive condition for all strains. The results indicated that, among the tested strains, L. plantarum 3 and 22 had good technological properties whereas L. plantarum 66 was significantly efficient in terms of probiotic features. Overall, L. plantarum 22 was found to be the most appropriate strain due to its combination of technological and probiotic properties.

In the present study, the main purpose was the selection of antagonistic starter cultures for pickle and olive fermentation processes. The chemical and microbiological properties of fermented 70 pickle and 16 olive samples collected from the province of the west part of Turkey were analysed. Subsequently, lactic acid bacteria strains producing bacteriocin-like metabolites were isolated and identified. From 86 samples, 16 isolates were chosen, depending on their partial antimicrobial activity against at least one selected indicator. Thirteen out of this 16 isolates were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, whereas 3 of them proved to be Lactobacillus pentosus. Moreover, all the relevant isolates were found to be potent acid producers. All these results obviously suggest that the isolated Lactobacillus plantarum 9 and 25 were appropriate for them to be proposed as starter cultures in fermented pickle and olive production.

In this study, nisin producer Lactococcus lactis strains displaying cell surface chitin-binding domain (ChBD) and capable of immobilizing to chitin flakes were constructed. To obtain ChBD-based cell immobilization, Usp45 signal sequence with ChBD of chitinase A1 enzyme from Bacillus circulans was fused with different lengths of PrtP (153, 344, and 800 aa) or AcmA (242 aa) anchors derived from L. lactis . According to the whole cell ELISA analysis, ChBD was successfully expressed on the surface of L. lactis cells. Scanning electron microscope observations supported the conclusion of the binding analysis that L. lactis cells expressing the ChBD with long PrtP anchor (800 aa) did bind to chitin surfaces more efficiently than cells with the other ChBD anchors. The attained binding affinity of nisin producers for chitin flakes retained them in the fermentation during medium changes and enabled storage for sequential productions. Initial nisin production was stably maintained with many cycles. These results demonstrate that an efficient immobilization of L. lactis cells to chitin is possible for industrial scale repeated cycle or continuous nisin fermentation.

This study aimed to investigate optimal fermentation conditions for sourdough by freeze-dried Lactobacillus curvatus N19, Weissella cibaria N9 and Lactobacillus brevis ED25 isolated from Turkish sourdough previously. The central composite rotational design was applied to the optimization of fermentation parameters (temperature and time). The fermentation was carried out under a simulated sourdough system and biomass concentration, total acidity, and lactic and acetic acid formation were chosen as response variables. Results showed that the models developed for all variables were significant (p < 0.05) and there was no lack of fit in any of quantifications (p > 0.05), indicating the suitability for representing the relationship between variables and factors. While both of the independent parameters were effect the response, fermentation time was the most significant factor influencing the response. The validation experiments using the optimized condition showed a good agreement between the experimental and predicted values except the lactic and acetic acid formation for W. cibaria N9. In conclusion, freeze-dried L. curvatus N19 can be used as a starter culture to sourdough fermentation for bread industry due to optimum fermentation conditions (29oC temperature and 23h time).