微生物應用在生物技術與食品加工、製造過程中擔任重要的角色，除可為產品提供良好之氣味 (風味)，並可改善食物之消化性及營養價值，將食品之風味、功能性與附加價值提升。另一方面，微生物亦為影響食品安全的主要影響因素之一，多數引起食品中毒的主要原因為病原菌所引起，造成國家社會經濟上的重大損失。由食品產製與消費的觀點來看，安全的食品必須建構在健康與風味之上。建構安全的生產制度將是食品或生技產業最重要的一環。緣此，本研究室針對『有益處』及『有害處』的微生物在食品科學的角度進行深入的探討，由基本的微生物檢驗鑑定、分類、醱酵生產製程及功效性等試驗的『點』，漸漸擴展至以快速篩選技術及流行病學統計為主食品安全風險性評估等較應用之研究、微生物相之分析 (包含口腔、腸道等)、生物反應器之開發及高效率之功效性篩選等方面之的『線』，最終將所發展及開發之技術應用於食品或生技產業，提高生產效率與功效性之附加價值的『面』，由前端的技術開發研究延伸至產業應用的實踐。
Microorganisms play a major role in biotechnological applications, food manufacturing, and processing. Not only do they impart a good taste to food products but also improve their functionality, digestibility, and nutritional values. In addition, microorganisms are one of the most important factors affecting food safety. Most foodborne illnesses are caused by pathogenic fungi, bacteria, and virus, leading to significant economic losses. Building a food safety production system is the most important processes in the food or biotechnology industry. From the consumer perspective, the purpose of food production should be to produce the safest and highest quality foods. For this reason, our research team conducts in-depth investigations of the "beneficial" and "harmful" microorganisms with the field of Food Science. Research is performed on microbial identification, classification, fermentation and functionality, along with food safety, risk management and assessment of the outcome of basic rapid screening technology, and epidemiologic evaluation. Applied research is conducted by analyzing bacterial diversity in different microbial ecosystems including the oral and gut microbiota, development of bioreactors, allowing for a highly efficient functional ingredients screening. Finally, technology development leads to an improvement in the productivity and functionality in the food or biotechnology industry
