Diversity of Halophilic Archaea in Fermented Foods and Human Intestines and Their Application

Abstract

Archaea are prokaryotic organisms distinct from bacteria in the structural and molecular biological sense, and these microorganisms are known to thrive mostly at extreme environments. In particular, most studies on halophilic archaea have been focused on environmental and ecological researches. However, new species of halophilic archaea are being isolated and identified from high salt-fermented foods consumed by humans, and it has been found that various types of halophilic archaea exist in food products by culture-independent molecular biological methods. In addition, even if the numbers are not quite high, DNAs of various halophilic archaea are being detected in human intestines and much interest is given to their possible roles. This review aims to summarize the types and characteristics of halophilic archaea reported to be present in foods and human intestines and to discuss their application as well.

Effect of the lemon essential oils on the safety and sensory quality of salted sardines ( Sardina pilchardus Walbaum 1792)

“…Recently, Lee (2013) reported the use of halophilic bacteria for industrial food application. The inoculum of halophilic bacteria as starter culture into salted fishes might shorten the ripening period of salted anchovies and might improve the safety and sensory quality of the final products due to decrease of the levels of Enterobacteriaceae and staphylococci.…”

“…1441/2007EC No. 1019/2013FDA, 1998). The histamine limits for ripened brined and/or salted fishery products have been established at 400 and 500 ppm in Europe and USA, respectively.…”

“…One of the main issues related to the microbial development on fish tissues is represented by the increase of histamine content into final product (EC No. 1019/ 2013FDA, 1998).…”

Halophilic microbial communities in deteriorated buildings

“…It has also been found that halophilic archaea are able to produce extracellular serine proteases which are active in high salinity. The use of these proteases was implemented in the food industry to achieve the specific flavor of fish sauce, and fermented anchovy (Lee 2013).…”

“…This does not mean that culture-dependent techniques are overlooked. Their potential is still utilised to understand the functioning of ecosystems and the components they consist of (Lee 2013;Oren 2015).…”