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.
