3. Conclusion

As we have seen, the diversity of biologically fermented or processed food products, the vast majority of which are traditional, is due to the wide variety of micro-organisms found in the natural environment and the richness of food substrates. The future of these products is very promising, insofar as production, extraction and characterization techniques are evolving and should enable a wider range of flavors to be developed, products to be mixed and processes to be better controlled. As far as micro-organisms are concerned, living organisms limit our creativity, as we have to make do with existing biological characteristics. We may not yet be fully exploiting this possibility. At present, we can amplify, combine, cancel, repeat, modulate and regulate what already exists. But could we envisage other traits than those that already exist?