Abstract
This chapter focuses on the metabolism of genus Lactobacillus, with emphasis on the proteolytic potential of the well‐known species in order to highlight their potential use in the production of bioactive peptides. Fermentation activities for most of the literature references used in this chapter were conducted in batch mode but the focus of the studies was not on comparing fermentation modes and their effects on proteinase yields. The vast diversity of lactobacilli proteinases represents an industrially feasible avenue for exploitation in biotechnological applications. Continued improvement of proteinase yields depends on a number of factors: identification of highly proteolytic strains, improvement of proteinase yields via optimisation of mediacomponent and process parameters and efficient product recovery. Successfully addressing these issues will require a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing fields such as microbiology, statistics and mathematical modelling and bioprocess engineering.