Editorial: Microbiological Safety and Quality Aspects of Fermented Dairy Products

Fermented dairy products include a wide range of foods that are highly appreciated worldwide. The production processes, the type of milk, practices adopted during feeding, milking, and beyond can affect the quality and safety characteristics of these products. A vast array of microorganisms can be found in milk, and microbial succession during fermentation of multiple products, as well as during cheese ripening contributes to the desired properties of these foods. In addition to sensory and safety aspects, microorganisms present in fermented dairy foods can positively affect the health of people due to their potential probiotic nature and the production of beneficial metabolites such. Despite recent innovations on microbial cultivation techniques, and the widespread use of a myriad of newly developed “omic” techniques, including genomic approaches through the use of High Throughput Sequencing in combination with advanced metabolomics, there are many dairy fermented products with limited information about their microbial composition (diversity) and dynamics (succession). This is particularly true for traditional regional products, which represent a rich niche for discoveries involving microorganisms with better conditions for recovery from disturbances and more reliable and robust for industrial production. The unknown microbiota can reveal new mechanisms of interactions and functions and new bioactive molecules with beneficial effects on the sensory aspect of food and on human health. The goal of this Research Topic was to deepen the current knowledge in the microbial safety and quality aspects of fermented dairy products, gathering studies on the different types of products, practices, and how the microbiota affected the quality and safety attributes of these much-appreciated foods. This Research Topic brings a series of 14 articles related to the microbiological safety and quality aspects of fermented dairy products.as vitamins, antioxidants, and antimicrobial compounds