Effect of the sequence of nisin and pulsed electric fields treatments and mechanisms involved in the inactivation of Listeria innocua in whey

Inactivation of foodborne pathogens by the synergistic combinations of food processing technologies and food-grade compounds

There is a need to develop food processing technologies with enhanced antimicrobial capacity against foodborne pathogens. While considering the challenges of adequate inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms in different food matrices, the emerging technologies are also expected to be sustainable and have a minimum impact on food quality and nutrients. Synergistic combinations of food processing technologies and food-grade compounds have a great potential to address these needs. During these combined treatments, food processes directly or indirectly interact with added chemicals, intensifying the overall antimicrobial effect. This review provides an overview of the combinations of different thermal or nonthermal processes with a variety of food-grade compounds that show synergistic antimicrobial effect against pathogenic microorganisms in foods and model systems. Further, we summarize the underlying mechanisms for representative combined treatments that are responsible for the enhanced microbial inactivation. Finally, regulatory issues and challenges for further development and technical transfer of these new approaches at the industrial level are also discussed.

Probiotics and its functionally valuable products-a review

During the past two decades probiotic bacteria have been increasingly proposed as health promoting bacteria in variety of food system, because of its safety, functional, and technological characteristics. Commonly, Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Saccharomyces boulardii, and some other microorganisms have been considered as probiotic strains. Possibly these bacterial strains exerted several beneficial effects into gastrointestinal tract of host while administered with variety of food system. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) usually produce antimicrobial substances like bacteriocin which have broad spectrum of antagonist effect against closely related Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens. LAB strains often produce polymeric substances such as exopolysaccharides (EPS) which increase the colonization of probiotic bacteria by cell-cell interactions in gastrointestinal tract. LAB also produces biosurfactant which showed that the wide range of antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogen as well as its antiadhesive properties reduces the adhesion of pathogens into gastric wall membrane. Furthermore, LAB strains have also been reported for production of antioxidants which are ability to scavenge the free radicals such as superoxide anions and hydroxyl radicals. For this sense, this review article is mainly focused on the ecology, biosynthesis, genetics, target sites, and applications of bacteriocins and EPS from LAB strains. Moreover, this review discusses about the production and functions of nutritive essential element folate and iron chelating agent such as siderophores from LAB.

Screening for Listeria monocytogenes surrogate strains applicable to food processing by ultrahigh pressure and pulsed electric field

Ultrahigh pressure (UHP) and pulsed electric field (PEF) are emerging processing technologies developed to enhance the safety while maintaining the fresh-like quality of food. For each food and process combination, a pathogen of concern (i.e., target pathogen) must be determined, and a low-risk microorganism that serves as the pathogen surrogate for process validation must be identified. The objective of this study was to identify a surrogate for Listeria monocytogenes for UHP and PEF process validation. Potential surrogates tested include four Lactobacillus spp., a Pediococcus sp., and a Listeria innocua strain. These were compared with nine L. monocytogenes strains, with regard to sensitivity to UHP and PEF processing. For UHP treatment, the strains were suspended in citrate-phosphate buffer (pH 7.0 or 4.5), sweet whey, or acidified whey and pressure processed at 500 MPa for 1 min. For PEF treatment, the strains were suspended in NaCl solution, acid whey, or sweet whey and processed at 25 kV/cm. The lethality of UHP or PEF treatment varied considerably, depending on medium types and pH and the treated strain. Treating the tested microorganisms with UHP inactivated 0.3 to 6.9 log CFU/ml for L. monocytogenes strains and 0.0 to 4.7 log CFU/ml for the potential surrogates. When PEF was employed, populations of tested microorganisms decreased < 1.0 to 5.3 log CFU/ml. L. monocytogenes V7 and OSY-8578 were among the most resistant strains to UHP and PEF treatments, and thus are candidate target strains. Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 demonstrated similar or greater resistance compared with the target organisms; therefore, the bacterium is proposed as a surrogate of L. monocytogenes for both processes under the conditions specified in the food matrices tested in this study.

Advanced methods for the elimination of microorganisms in industrial treatments: potential applicability to wastewater reuse

Because of the growing need to eliminate undesirable microorganisms in different industrial treatments, mainly in the food and agricultural sector and the pharmaceutical industry, a number of increasingly effective systems for disinfection to eliminate microorganisms have been devised. This article analyzes different methods to eliminate and/or significantly reduce the number of microorganisms in industrial contexts and in environmental engineering. Although, in the past, thermal treatments had been used most frequently for microbial elimination, the method is costly and has the disadvantage of modifying the organoleptic and/or physicochemical properties of the food products. For this reason, new technologies rapidly are being developed, such as high-intensity pulsed electric fields, high-pressure systems, ultrasounds, and irradiation, which effectively eliminate microorganisms without deteriorating the properties of the product. These emerging technologies are potentially applicable in the field of environmental engineering.

Effect of Pulsed Electric Fields on Physical, Chemical, and Microbiological Properties of Formulated Carrot Juice

The objective of this study was to process a developed carrot juice-based beverage by pulsed electric fields (PEF) and determination of its physical, chemical, and microbiological properties before and after PEF processing. Results revealed that PEF processing did not cause any significant change in pH, titratable acidity (TA), °Brix, conductivity, color (L*, a*, and b*), nonenzymatic browning index (NBI), metal ion, and vitamin C concentration (p > 0.05). There was a significant reduction on the total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, total mold and yeast, total enterobactericeae and Escherichia coli O157:H7 counts resulting with 4.30 ± 0.26, 3.4 2 ± 0.40, 4.46 ± 0.36, and 3.57 ± 0.32 log cfu/mL, respectively (p ≤ 0.01). PEF processing could be successfully used to process a carrot juice based beverage with significant amount of microbial reduction.

Enhanced bactericidal effect of enterocin AS-48 in combination with high-intensity pulsed-electric field treatment against Salmonella enterica in apple juice

The effect of the broad spectrum cyclic antimicrobial peptide enterocin AS-48 combination with high-intensity pulsed-electric field (HIPEF) treatment (35 kV/cm, 150 Hz, 4 micros and bipolar mode) was tested on Salmonella enterica CECT 915 in apple juice. A response surface methodology was applied to study the bactericidal effects of the combined treatment. The process variables were AS-48 concentration, temperature, and HIPEF treatment time. While treatment with enterocin AS-48 alone up to 60 microg/ml had no effect on the viability of S. enterica in apple juice, an increased bactericidal activity was observed in combination with HIPEF treatments. Survival fraction was affected by treatment time, enterocin AS48 concentration and treatment temperature. The combination of 100 micros of HIPEF treatment, 30 microg/ml of AS-48, and temperature of 20 degrees C resulted in the lowest inactivation, with only a 1.2-log reduction. The maximum inactivation of 4.5-log cycles was achieved with HIPEF treatment for 1000 micros in combination with 60 microg/ml of AS-48 and a treatment temperature of 40 degrees C. Synergism between enterocin AS-48 and HIPEF treatment depended on the sequence order application, since it was observed only when HIPEF was applied in the presence of previously-added bacteriocin. The combined treatment could improve the safety of freshly-made apple juice against S. enterica transmission.

Bacteriocin-based strategies for food biopreservation

Bacteriocins are ribosomally-synthesized peptides or proteins with antimicrobial activity, produced by different groups of bacteria. Many lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produce bacteriocins with rather broad spectra of inhibition. Several LAB bacteriocins offer potential applications in food preservation, and the use of bacteriocins in the food industry can help to reduce the addition of chemical preservatives as well as the intensity of heat treatments, resulting in foods which are more naturally preserved and richer in organoleptic and nutritional properties. This can be an alternative to satisfy the increasing consumers demands for safe, fresh-tasting, ready-to-eat, minimally-processed foods and also to develop "novel" food products (e.g. less acidic, or with a lower salt content). In addition to the available commercial preparations of nisin and pediocin PA-1/AcH, other bacteriocins (like for example lacticin 3147, enterocin AS-48 or variacin) also offer promising perspectives. Broad-spectrum bacteriocins present potential wider uses, while narrow-spectrum bacteriocins can be used more specifically to selectively inhibit certain high-risk bacteria in foods like Listeria monocytogenes without affecting harmless microbiota. Bacteriocins can be added to foods in the form of concentrated preparations as food preservatives, shelf-life extenders, additives or ingredients, or they can be produced in situ by bacteriocinogenic starters, adjunct or protective cultures. Immobilized bacteriocins can also find application for development of bioactive food packaging. In recent years, application of bacteriocins as part of hurdle technology has gained great attention. Several bacteriocins show additive or synergistic effects when used in combination with other antimicrobial agents, including chemical preservatives, natural phenolic compounds, as well as other antimicrobial proteins. This, as well as the combined use of different bacteriocins may also be an attractive approach to avoid development of resistant strains. The combination of bacteriocins and physical treatments like high pressure processing or pulsed electric fields also offer good opportunities for more effective preservation of foods, providing an additional barrier to more refractile forms like bacterial endospores as well. The effectiveness of bacteriocins is often dictated by environmental factors like pH, temperature, food composition and structure, as well as the food microbiota. Foods must be considered as complex ecosystems in which microbial interactions may have a great influence on the microbial balance and proliferation of beneficial or harmful bacteria. Recent developments in molecular microbial ecology can help to better understand the global effects of bacteriocins in food ecosystems, and the study of bacterial genomes may reveal new sources of bacteriocins.