Gamma-amino butyric acid -GABA- is recognized as a great inhibitory neurotransmitter in central nervous. GABA has the ability to inhibit cancer cell proliferation via stimulating cancer cell apoptosis. In this regard, it can be applied as an active bio-compound in foods and pharmaceuticals sciences. GABA has many physiological functions and, therefore, there is considerable attention towards the development of GABA-enriched functional foods. Some natural approaches have been proposed to synthesize GABA, which the use of Lactic acid bacteria -LAB- with GABA-producing ability has gained more attention in the last decade. However, other bacterial genera and fungi have also been applied for this purpose. Additionally, GABA metabolism pathways have been studied in plants, which can be another simple way to produce the amino acid. As well, marine-derived GABA can be recognized as a good source of bioactive food ingredients. Due to a relatively low GABA level in a regular daily human diet, the use of some approaches to fabricate GABA-enriched foods is mandatory. The present mini-review paper mainly discusses the potential pharmaceutical and food applications of GABA.

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