Microbial starter cultures for geographical indications

The scientific-social-economic importance of traditional fermented foods is widely testified by the worldwide importance of 'geographical indication (GI)' (WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization; WTO, World Trade Organization). Belonging to the intellectual property law, the 'geographical indication is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin' (WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization). Plant varieties, local animal breeds, and traditional knowledge are recognized to be geographical attributes. It is widely recognized that the emergence of a given microbiota in a food matrix uniquely influences the global quality of final product. We study autochthon microbial ecology of GI food fermentations and we characterize a representative number of microbial isolate with a particular attention to lactic acid bacteria. Thus, we selected a panel of microbial strains representing the 'virtuous' microbial biodiversity of a specific terroir and for a given GI food production. Starting from this list, GI fermented food producers might formulate their own multi-strains starter culture. Our core business covers also starter cultures production. The principal implication of our perspective is the improvement of GIs 'unique qualities' via an enhanced management of microbial biodiversity in food environments, naturally maintaining a high attention to biological risks for human health and industrial exigencies of product standardization. In general, turning in technological transfer, this interdisciplinary innovation leads to development opportunities for local research teams in microbial ecology and food microbiology, academic spin-off companies, bioentrepreneurs, and microbial collections.