Explain how microbiology can play a role in bread industry

Micro-organisms have been used since ancient times to make bread, cheese, yoghurt and wine. Food manufacturers continue to use micro-organisms today to make a wide range of food products by a process known as fermentation. Fermentation not only gives food a good taste, texture and smell, but it causes changes that reduce the growth of unwanted food microbes. This improves the food's storage life and safety. Nowadays fermentations are used to make an amazingly wide range of food and drink.

Fungi have been used as sources of food and for food processing for thousands of years. In addition to eating edible fruiting bodies, such as mushrooms, directly, various fungi have been used to supplement and add flavour to foods. Yeasts are used in the fermentation of fruits to produce wines, cereals to make beer, in bread manufacture and flavouring in the form of yeast extract. Filamentous fungi are used in traditional processes for the ripening of cheeses and in the production of enzymes used in the food industry.

Food microbiologists research micro-organisms in food and are tasked primarily with preventing food-borne diseases. They study food poisoning, spoilage, and preservation, as well as participating in food