Introductory note [to special issue on vinegars and acetic acid bacteria]

The exploitation of acetic acid bacteria has a long history infermentation processes and it is now an emerging field inbiotechnological applications, such as biosynthesis of higheconomical relevance molecules, and in food industry, wheremore reliable and controlled microbiological processes forvinegar and other fermented beverages production are required.The metabolic potential of acetic acid bacteria is joined to theirability to partially oxidize carbohydrates releasing the corresponding products (aldehydes, ketones and organic acids) into the medium. Due this feature acetic acid bacteria are knownsince a long time as the main agent of vinegar production butalso as contaminant in other fermented beverages like wine.