Microbial Interactions in Fermented Foods and Beverages: From Natural Communities to Designed Consortia

Understanding microbial interactions in fermented foods and beverages is a rapidly evolving field that merges microbial ecology, molecular biology, and food biotechnology. Over the past decade, advances in data omics and single cell analyses, have revealed the extraordinary diversity of microbial communities driving fermentation processes. Despite this progress, our knowledge of the dynamic interactions underlying these ecosystems - such as cooperation, competition, metabolite cross feeding, and microbial succession - remains partially unexplored. Classical fermentation research has largely focused on microbial identification and their impact on flavour and quality. Yet a mechanistic understanding of how communities self organize, stabilize, and function collectively to produce emergent properties is still missing. Addressing this gap is crucial not only for improving product quality and safety but also for designing microbial consortia that enhance sustainability, reproducibility, and control in precision fermentation systems.This Research Topic aims to deepen our understanding of microbial networking and functional interdependencies in fermented ecosystems. Specifically, it seeks to integrate ecological theory with applied microbiology to reveal how microbial assemblages interact, communicate, and evolve during fermentation of both foods and beverages. The goal is to stimulate cross disciplinary research that connects fundamental studies of community dynamics with industrial and artisanal applications. Questions include: How do cooperative and competitive interactions influence fermentation outcomes? Which molecular mechanisms support stable community assembly? Can designed microbial consortia replicate or surpass traditional fermentation performance? By addressing these issues, this Research Topic hopes to advance the rational design of microbial systems tailored for desired functionalities and sensory profiles.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses both naturally occurring and engineered microbial communities involved in the fermentation of solid and liquid foods. It invites submissions exploring the ecological, molecular, and functional dimensions of microbial interactions.To gather further insights into these dynamics, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Ecological and functional characterization of microbial interactions in traditional and defined fermentations o Cross feeding networks, metabolic complementarity, and nutrient exchange dynamicso Competition, cooperation, and succession in multispecies fermentative consortiao Designed microbial communities for improved fermentation performanceo Multi omics and computational modelling approaches to predict community assembly and functiono Quorum sensing, signalling molecules, and regulatory networks in fermentation ecosystemso Impact of microbial interactions on product stability, safety, and sensory developmentTopic Editor Prof. Samuel Breselge declares he is a co-inventor on pending patent WO2026027621A2 describing a defined microbial community for water kefir production, and Dr. José Ángel Salas-Millán declares he is a co-inventor on patent and utility models ES2994028, ES1292449, ES1291639, ES1306348, and ES1322076, as well as is currently collaborating on a partnership project with a private company. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject. Topic editors: Giorgio Gargari, Samuel Breselge, José Ángel Salas-Millán Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84245/microbial-interactions-in-fermented-foods-and-beverages-from-natural-communities-to-designed-consortia