The scientific approach to bacterial starter cultures has now a history of one century. Dairy science started the application of these cultures and has still the highest standard in culture technology. Progress in substituting the fortuitious food fermentation processes by starters can be observed in meat technology, sour dough production, wine making and fermentation of vegetable juices. However, some processes are still performed by spontaneous fermentation, e.g. vinegar production or sauerkraut fermentation. Lactic acid bacteria are the most important ingredients of starter preparations. The improvement of our knowledge of the physiology, genetics and ecology of the organisms is characteristic for the most recent studies of starter cultures.