Our current food system relies on unsustainable practices, which often fail to provide healthy diets to a growing population. Therefore, there is an urgent demand for new sustainable nutrition sources and processes. Microorganisms have gained attention as a new food source solution, due to their low carbon footprint, low reliance on land, water and seasonal variations coupled with a favourable nutritional profile. Furthermore, with the emergence and use of new tools, specifically in synthetic biology, the uses of microorganisms have expanded showing great potential to fulfil many of our dietary needs. In this review, we look at the different applications of microorganisms in food, and examine the history, state-of-the-art and potential to disrupt current foods systems. We cover both the use of microbes to produce whole foods out of their biomass and as cell factories to make highly functional and nutritional ingredients. The technical, economical, and societal limitations are also discussed together with the current and future perspectives.

我们当前的粮食系统依赖于不可持续的做法，这些做法往往无法为不断增长的人口提供健康的饮食。因此，迫切需要新的可持续营养来源和工艺。微生物作为一种新的食物来源解决方案而受到关注，因为它们具有低碳足迹、对土地、水和季节变化的依赖度低以及良好的营养成分。此外，随着新工具（特别是合成生物学）的出现和使用，微生物的用途不断扩大，显示出满足我们许多饮食需求的巨大潜力。在这篇综述中，我们着眼于微生物在食品中的不同应用，并研究了微生物的历史、最新技术以及破坏当前食品系统的潜力。我们涵盖了利用微生物利用其生物质生产天然食品以及作为细胞工厂来制造高功能和营养成分的情况。还讨论了技术、经济和社会限制以及当前和未来的前景。