Аннотация
composition in Petit Manseng wine, illustrating how indigenous yeasts can release varietal aroma compounds from glycosidic precursors. Ruci et al., 2025 investigated Kallmet wine produced by sequential inoculation with Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, demonstrating the potential of non-Saccharomyces yeasts to modulate wine quality. Piao et al., 2025 examined smoke-taint precursor modification by glycosidase activity in diverse wine yeast and bacterial strains, addressing an increasingly important challenge for winemaking in regions affected by wildfire smoke.The importance of microbial ecology in traditional fermented products was particularly evident in studies on Baijiu focusing on physicochemical factors, microbial communities, and flavor compounds during the piling process of Furou-type Baijiu by Liu et al., 2025, while Tang et al., 2025 analyzed microbial communities and flavor profiles in fermented grains of Furou-type Baijiu. Zeng et al., 2026 used multi-omics to show that glutinous rice varieties can shape Baijiu flavor through microbial and metabolic modulation. These studies illustrate how modern sequencing, metabolomics, and correlation analyses can decode complex solid-state fermentations and provide scientific support for improving traditional processes without altering product identity.Other contributions broadened the Topic toward fermented foods and aroma-rich plant materials. Holt et al., 2026 investigated solid-state Aspergillus oryzae koji fermentations of cereal and oilseed processing side streams, showing that substrate composition and moisture dynamics strongly shape fungal growth, physicochemical changes, and volatile organic compound formation. Their findings further demonstrate how fermentation stage, water activity, and substrate chemistry can guide aroma development while supporting the valorization of agro-industrial side streams. Several common themes emerged from the contributed papers in present research topic. First, microbial biodiversity remains a valuable reservoir for innovations in natural ingredient. Indigenous strains isolated from specific ecological or production environments often possess traits that are difficult to reproduce using generic industrial cultures. Second, omics technologies are essential for linking microbial taxa, functional genes, metabolites, and sensory outcomes. Third, process sustainability is no longer optional: the use of by-products such as cheese whey, the optimization of fermentation conditions, and the development of efficient extraction strategies are central to future industrial adoption.The studies gathered in this Research Topic demonstrate that microbial biotechnology can contribute to safer, more sustainable, and more diverse natural ingredients for coloring, flavoring, and fragrances. Simultaneously, they showed that successful translation requires collaboration among microbiologists, food technologists, fermentation scientists, chemists, sensory scientists, regulatory specialists, and industry partners. The regulatory framework regarding the use of microbial food ingredients is complex and varies across the regions. The market will also play an important role as acceptance making consumer to understand myths on use of microbial driven food ingredients. Future research should continue to integrate strain discovery with systems biology, scale-up studies, machine learning, life-cycle thinking, and clear safety assessment. Such integration will be crucial for converting promising microbial metabolites into reliable commercial ingredients.