Department of Bioengineering and Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 19;14(1):2231. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37891-1.
Our current food system relies on unsustainable practices, which often fail to provide healthy diets to a growing population. Therefore, there is an urgent demand for new sustainable nutrition sources and processes. Microorganisms have gained attention as a new food source solution, due to their low carbon footprint, low reliance on land, water and seasonal variations coupled with a favourable nutritional profile. Furthermore, with the emergence and use of new tools, specifically in synthetic biology, the uses of microorganisms have expanded showing great potential to fulfil many of our dietary needs. In this review, we look at the different applications of microorganisms in food, and examine the history, state-of-the-art and potential to disrupt current foods systems. We cover both the use of microbes to produce whole foods out of their biomass and as cell factories to make highly functional and nutritional ingredients. The technical, economical, and societal limitations are also discussed together with the current and future perspectives.
我们当前的食物系统依赖于不可持续的做法，这些做法往往无法为不断增长的人口提供健康饮食。因此，迫切需要新的可持续营养来源和工艺。由于微生物的碳足迹低、对土地、水和季节性变化的依赖低，再加上有利的营养状况，因此它们作为一种新的食物来源解决方案引起了关注。此外，随着新工具的出现和使用，特别是在合成生物学领域，微生物的用途已经扩大，显示出有很大的潜力来满足我们许多饮食需求。在这篇综述中，我们研究了微生物在食品中的不同应用，并考察了其历史、现状和颠覆当前食物系统的潜力。我们既涵盖了微生物利用其生物质生产全食物的用途，也涵盖了它们作为细胞工厂生产高功能性和营养成分的用途。还讨论了技术、经济和社会方面的限制，以及当前和未来的展望。
