The effect of essential oils and cinnamaldehyde on the inactivation of Salmonella Enteritidis in liquid egg products: comparison to synthetic additives

Assessment of different antimicrobials to inhibit the growth of Zygosaccharomyces rouxii cocktail in concentrated apple juice

Zygosaccharomyces rouxii represents the main spoilage cause of concentrated apple juice, leading to waste of products or recalls. Essential oils components derived from plants have been found to present antimicrobial activities against various microbes. However, few work has been reported about their antimicrobial activities against Z. rouxii in concentrated apple juice. In this work, reparameterized Gompertz equation was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of different antimicrobials to inhibit the growth of a Z. rouxii cocktail (6.3 lg colony forming units/mL) composed of six strains isolated from concentrated apple juice and two strains from honey and grape must. The obtained mathematical models presented that thymol, carvacrol and trans-cinnamaldehyde were the promising options to inhibit Z. rouxii in 30 ^oBrix apple juice, reaching a maximal decrease on yeast growth of around 99.65 ± 0.61%. Whereas other antimicrobials showed lower antimicrobial activities with a maximal growth decrease of ranging from 67.13 ± 3.62% to 13.38 ± 1.16%. Additionally, the sensorial characteristics were not affected when the antimicrobials assayed were applied at the effective concentrations in commercial apple juice product. This work provided a theoretical feasibility that thymol, carvacrol and trans-cinnamaldehyde could be applied as natural preservatives for the control of Z. rouxii-related spoilage in fruit juice industry.

The Challenges of Eliminating or Substituting Antimicrobial Preservatives in Foods

Consumers' criteria for evaluating food safety have evolved recently from considering the food's potential to cause immediate physical harm to considering the potential long-term effects that consumption of artificial ingredients, including antimicrobial preservatives, would have on health. As bacteriostatic and bactericidal agents to prevent microbial spoilage, antimicrobials not only extend shelf life, but they also enhance the product's safety. Antimicrobials and their levels that may be used in foods are specified by regulatory agencies. This review addresses the safety of antimicrobials and the potential consequences of removing those that are chemically synthesized or replacing them with antimicrobials from so-called natural sources. Such changes can affect the microbiological safety and spoilage of food as well as reduce shelf life, increase wastage, and increase the occurrence of foodborne illnesses.