Lactobacillus plantarum as a Strategy for an In situ Production of Vitamin B2

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has recently introduced a system for a pre-market safety assessment of selected taxonomic groups of microorganisms leading to a Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS), European equivalent of the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. Several species of food-related lactic acid bacteria (LAB) associated with food, have obtained a QPS status. The adaptability of LAB to fermentation process, their biosynthetic capacity and metabolic versatility, are some of the principal features that facilitate the application of LAB in foods for producing, releasing and/or increasing specific beneficial compounds. Among these, vitamin production by LAB has recently gained attention of the scientific community. The proper selection and exploitation of nutraceutical-producing LAB is an interesting strategy to produce novel fermented foods with increased nutritional and/or health promoting properties. Fermented milks or bread with high levels of B-group vitamins (such as folate and riboflavin) can be produced by LAB-promoted biosynthesis. In this paper, the use of probiotics bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum as a strategy for an in situ production and/or overproduction of vitamin B2 will be discussed.