Guest Editors
Anna María Polanía Rivera
Universidad del Valle
Dr. Anna María Polanía Rivera is an assistant professor in the Food Engineering Program at the Universidad del Valle, Tuluá campus, Colombia. Her research focuses on the valorization of agri-food resources through solid-state fermentation to obtain bioactive compounds. She is a member of the Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology (MIBIA) group. Dr. Rivera earned her food technology degree in 2012, a food engineering degree in 2017, and her PhD in Engineering with a specialization in food science in 2023. all from Universidad del Valle. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship, during which she formulated a starter inoculum using coffee by-products, employing yeasts and lactic acid bacteria to enhance the organoleptic quality of fermented coffee. Dr. Rivera has participated in several significant international events and has authored 15 high-impact scientific publications, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
Liliana Londoño Hernandez
Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia
Dr. Liliana Londoño Hernandez is a national leader in the Master’s Program in Food Biotechnology at Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD). Her scientific research focuses on the valorization of agri-food resources through fermentation to create nutritionally enhanced foods and industrially relevant metabolites. She is a full-time professor and senior researcher at UNAD, affiliated with the BIOTICS research group.Dr. Hernandez holds a degree in food technology (2005), a degree in food engineering (2011), and a Master’s in Food Engineering (2015) from Universidad del Valle. She also earned a PhD in Food Science and Technology (2018) from Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, where her doctoral thesis received unanimous approval with honors. She was awarded a scholarship through the OAS–AMEXCID–CONACYT program.Throughout her career, she has participated in significant international events and has authored over 60 high-impact scientific publications, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
Cristobal N. Aguilar
Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia
Prof. Dr. Cristobal N. Aguilar is the head researcher of the Group of Bioprocesses and Bioproducts at the School of Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila. He is a chemist and food biotechnologist with expertise in designing bioprocesses for food, pharmaceuticals, and environmental applications, as well as in fertilization and enzymatic technologies. With over 600 publications in his field, Prof. Aguilar has contributed significantly to the formation of numerous human resources and has participated in several international cooperation projects. These include VALNATURA (2004-2008), ECOS-Nord-ANUIES-CONACYT (2002-2007), SRE-CONACYT-CONYCET (2011-2015), CONACYT-DST (2016-2018), and the FP7 project funded by the Marie Curie Program focused on biotechnologies to valorize regional food biodiversity in Latin America (BiValBi). Additionally, Prof. Aguilar is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and has served as the past president of both the Mexican Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering and the Mexican Society for Food Science and Biotechnology.
Collection Overview
Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a microbial fermentation process that involves the use of selected microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and yeasts, on humid, solid, and insoluble organic materials. These materials serve as both a support and a nutrient source for microbial growth, typically in an environment with little to no free water.
SSF applications primarily benefit the food, pharmaceutical, energy, and chemical industries. This technology has gained significant interest among researchers due to its potential for converting agro-industrial waste into valuable domestic and industrial products, while also helping to remediate environmental pollution. Notably, SSF offers advantages such as low wastewater generation, reduced risk of contamination from other microorganisms due to low water activity, and lower economic investment with favorable process yields.
However, one of the main challenges in scaling up this process is the variable reproducibility resulting from poor standardization. To address this issue, the objective of this collection is to present standardized protocols for solid-state fermentation processes aimed at producing fermented foods, bioactive compounds, enzymes, biofuels, antibiotics, and biofertilizers. Ultimately, this aims to broaden access to established methods and facilitate opportunities for researchers interested in this technology.