Traditional Fermented Foods and Beverages from a Microbiological and Nutritional Perspective: The Colombian Heritage Clemencia Chaves-L´ opez, Annalisa Serio, Carlos David Grande-Tovar, Raul Cuervo-Mulet, Johannes Delgado-Ospina, and Antonello Paparella Abstract: Fermentation has been used for preserving foods for centuries prior to the invention of pasteurization and sterilization, and every culture has a variety of fermented products as part of its diet. This paper reviews the diversity of fermented foods and beverages from Latin America; these fermented products are produced by traditional methods that exploit mixed cultures of various nonpathogenic microorganisms. Fermentedfoods covered in this review include maize, cassava, palm sap, sugar cane juice, cocoa, and milk. We explore the history of some Colombian fermented foods and beverages, which are today part of the tradition of some ethnic groups, and evaluate their technology, microbiology, the presence of some nutritional factors, and safety concerns. To the best of our knowledge, this is the 1st systematic review on Colombian fermented beverages and foods, and we believe that it may contribute to valorize these products that are still part of the Latin America tradition. Keywords: beverages, cereal products, dairy products, fermentation, functional foods Introduction Fermentation is one of the ancient methods to preserve foods. Due to its nutritional value and to the variety of sensory attributes, it became popular in many cultures in which even today fermented foods are part of the daily intake. In fact, fermentation is a rel- atively cost-effective, low-energy preservation process, which is essential to ensure food shelf-life and safety (Liu and others 2011). Moreover, it remains the major technology for important food production, even though other manufacturing technologies are available nowadays (Plessas and others 2011). In traditional fermented products, the process of fermentation is spontaneous and uncontrolled. The products are often obtained under local climatic conditions, and therefore the sensory charac- teristics and the quality are variable. In addition, as indicated by Simango (1997), fermentation provides a natural way to reduce the volume of the material to be transported, to destroy undesir- able components, to enhance the nutritive value and appearance of the food, to reduce the energy required for cooking, as well as to make a safer product. MS 20140460 Submitted 3/20/2014, Accepted 6/11/2014. Authors Chaves- L´ opez, Serio, and Paparella are with Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, Univ. of Teramo, Via C.R. Lerici, 1, 64023 Mosciano Stazione, Italy. Authors Chaves-L´ opez, Grande-Tovar, Cuervo-Mullet, and Delgado- Ospina are with Grupo de Biotecnologia Universidad de San Buenaventura Sede Cali, Avenida 10 de Mayo, La Umbr´ ıa, V´ ıa a Pance, Colombia. Direct inquiries to author Clemencia Chaves-L´ opez (E-mail: chaves@unite.it). In Colombia, local agricultural commodities are generally used as raw material for the production of traditional fermented foods, by using traditional manufacturing procedures. Although some fermented foods and beverages are industrially produced, many are from household production for daily domestic consumption, and even today some tribes produce fermented beverages as stimulant and for medical purpose. Since pre-Hispanic times, fermented products from maize (Zea mais), cacao (Theobroma cacao), and cassava (Manihot esculenta) have been the most widely used products in Colombia, and indigenous populations developed and established processes for transforming them into different types of products that are produced even today (Lorence-Qui˜ nones and others 1999), although microbial and en- zymatic processes involved in food manufacturing have not been completely elucidated until now. Actually, progress in fermenta- tion technology could provide interesting opportunities to solve the problem of food safety and malnutrition in some countries where poverty, malnutrition, and infant mortality are widely seen (Chelule and others 2010). The aim of this review was to describe the main characteristics of the most common traditional fermented foods and beverages from Colombia, produced using autochtonous microorganisms to ferment different raw materials: nutrient-rich crops (cereals and roots), sugar cane, palm sap, cocoa, and animal products (milk). In detail, the main microbiological and nutritional properties of fermented foods, as well as the technological improvements that have been achieved in manufacturing, will be highlighted. Al- though many fermented foods and beverages have a long history of C  2014 Institute of Food Technologists ® doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12098 Vol. 13, 2014  Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 1031