In conventional biotechnological applications, microbial activity is an essential part of the process itself. In contrast, industrial processes are intended to be sterile, but microbes always prevail in the processes. Alimetrics’ techniques provide opportunities to study microbial communities and fermentation in both of the above-mentioned cases. Examples of cases falling within our range of expertise are listed below.

Biotechnical processes

• Fermented milk products
• Cheese-making process includes metabolic activities ranging from saccharolytic to putrefactive and further to digestion of the fat compounds, with dynamic changes in the relative activities of the different processes and different microbes throughout the ripening process (Tanskanen et al. 2009)
• Fermented sausages

Shelf-life and spoilage of food and feed stuffs

• For the food and feed industry, stability and good microbial quality, which are dependent on the presence and activity of microbes in the product, are of the utmost importance
• Microbes causing food deterioration may originate from the raw material, the processing chain or even the packaging material

Doping control

• Endogenous or even purposefully introduced microbes can alter the steroid profiles in doping control samples, creating a need to diagnose the presence of microbes and their effects on steroid profiles to guarantee adequate doping control (Ojanperä et al. 2010)

Bioenergy

• Anaerobic fermentation by microbes results in high -energy value metabolites, which can be utilized for bioenergy applications

Industrial processes

• Microbes can colonise the cooling systems of computer networks, challenging the reliable functioning of the information systems
• Microbes prevail and even grow in the pulp and paper process, where modern innovative solutions to manage microbial communities are likely to replace the conventional biocides