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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control
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Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2020) | Viewed by 22650

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Frank Devlieghere

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Unit Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Member of Food2Know, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Interests: spoilage; preservation; packaging; atmosphere; predictive; sensors; inactivation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial food spoilage is of major concern for our society. Trending demands such as minimal processing, clean label or recyclable and/or biodegradable packaging result in the development of new food products which are microbiologically even more vulnerable for spoilage. Research therefore needs to give more attention to the mechanisms of food spoilage and how to prevent it. This Special Issue will deal with different aspects of microbial food spoilage and how it can be monitored or prevented. Important aspects which, among others, can be covered are:

  • Spoilage metabolisms of specific spoilage organisms (bacteria, yeasts and molds) as influenced by preservation techniques;
  • New methods to determine freshness and spoilage of foods;
  • Identification of contamination sources of specific spoilage organisms during food production;
  • Effect of preservation and inactivation methods on microbial spoilage of foods;
  • Microbial (bacterial as well as fungal) spores and food spoilage;
  • Protective cultures to prevent food spoilage;
  • Predictive modelling of food spoilage;
  • Quantitative spoilage risk assessment.

Prof. Dr. Frank Devlieghere
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • spoilage metabolism
  • preservation
  • freshness
  • contamination
  • protective culture
  • predictive modelling
  • spoilage risk assessment
  • molds
  • yeasts
  • packaging
  • inactivation
  • spores

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 528 KiB  
Article
Effect of a Debaryomyces hansenii and Lactobacillus buchneri Starter Culture on Aspergillus westerdijkiae Ochratoxin A Production and Growth during the Manufacture of Short Seasoned Dry-Cured Ham
by Lucilla Iacumin, Martina Arnoldi and Giuseppe Comi
Microorganisms 2020, 8(10), 1623; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8101623 - 21 Oct 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2522
Abstract
Recently, specific dry-cured hams have started to be produced in San Daniele and Parma areas. The ingredients are similar to protected denomination of origin (PDO) produced in San Daniele or Parma areas, and include pork leg, coming from pigs bred in the Italian [...] Read more.
Recently, specific dry-cured hams have started to be produced in San Daniele and Parma areas. The ingredients are similar to protected denomination of origin (PDO) produced in San Daniele or Parma areas, and include pork leg, coming from pigs bred in the Italian peninsula, salt and spices. However, these specific new products cannot be marked as a PDO, either San Daniele or Parma dry cured ham, because they are seasoned for 6 months, and the mark PDO is given only to products seasoned over 13 months. Consequently, these products are called short-seasoned dry-cured ham (SSDCH) and are not branded PDO. During their seasoning period, particularly from the first drying until the end of the seasoning period, many molds, including Eurotium spp. and Penicillium spp., can grow on the surface and work together with other molds and tissue enzymes to produce a unique aroma. Both of these strains typically predominate over other molds. However, molds producing ochratoxins, such as Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium nordicum, can simultaneously grow and produce ochratoxin A (OTA). Consequently, these dry-cured hams may represent a potential health risk for consumers. Recently, Aspergillus westerdijkiae has been isolated from SSDCHs, which could represent a potential problem for consumers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to inhibit A. westerdijkiae using Debaryomyces hansenii or Lactobacillus buchneri or a mix of both microorganisms. Six D. hansenii and six L. buchneri strains were tested in vitro for their ability to inhibit A. westerdijkiae. The strains D. hansenii (DIAL)1 and L. buchneri (Lb)4 demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity and were selected for in situ tests. The strains were inoculated or co-inoculated on fresh pork legs for SSDCH production with OTA-producing A. westerdijkiae prior to the first drying and seasoning. At the end of seasoning (six months), OTA was not detected in the SSDCH treated with both microorganisms and their combination. Because both strains did not adversely affect the SSDCH odor or flavor, the combination of these strains are proposed for use as starters to inhibit OTA-producing A. westerdijkiae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control)
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13 pages, 2854 KiB  
Article
The Role of the Bacterial Community in Producing a Peculiar Smell in Chinese Fermented Sour Soup
by Liangjing Lin, Jinyuan Wu, Xi Chen, Libiao Huang, Xiaoyong Zhang and Xiangyang Gao
Microorganisms 2020, 8(9), 1270; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8091270 - 21 Aug 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2705
Abstract
In this paper, the volatile flavour constituents and the bacterial diversity in characteristic Chinese fermented sour soup were analysed, and the dynamics of bacteria associated with the odour were characterized. The bacterial diversity of sour soup was studied by high-throughput sequencing. A total [...] Read more.
In this paper, the volatile flavour constituents and the bacterial diversity in characteristic Chinese fermented sour soup were analysed, and the dynamics of bacteria associated with the odour were characterized. The bacterial diversity of sour soup was studied by high-throughput sequencing. A total of 10 phyla and 89 genera were detected. Firmicutes was the dominant phylum of sour soup, accounting for 87.14–98.57%. The genus structure of normal sour soup was relatively simple, and Lactobacillus (78.05–90.26%) was the dominant genus. In addition to Lactobacillus, the foul-smelling sour soup contained more Pediococcus spp., Caproiciproducens spp., and Clostridium-sensu-stricto12 spp. (relative abundance >1%) than the normal sour soup. A total of 51 aroma compounds were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-IMS), including 25 esters, 8 terpenes, 8 alcohols, 3 sulfur compounds, 2 acids, 2 ketones, 1 pyrazine, 1 monoterpene and 1 aldehyde. According to the relative odour active value (ROAV) calculation, 51 important flavour-contributing substances and 7 flavour-coordinating substances were determined. The esters with the highest relative percentages and ROAV values provided the pleasant flavour of the sour soup. In the foul-smelling sour soup, the ROAV values of 1,8-cineole, isobutyl acetate, ethyl butanoate, ethyl octanoate-M, and ethyl hexanoate-M decreased, while those of diallyl disulfide-M and diallyl disulfide-D, which were probably responsible for the foul flavour, increased. Through Pearson correlation analysis, the odour production of the foul-smelling soup was determined to be related to Pediococcus spp., Caproiciproducens spp., Clostridiumsensu_stricto_12 spp., Oscillibacter spp., Bacteroides spp., Fibaculaceae_unclassified spp., Acinetobacter spp. and Halomonas spp. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control)
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17 pages, 5132 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Clostridium tyrobutyricum Strains Using Three Different Typing Techniques
by Johanna Burtscher, Franziska Küller, Matthias Dreier, Emmanuelle Arias-Roth, David Drissner and Konrad J. Domig
Microorganisms 2020, 8(7), 1057; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8071057 - 16 Jul 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3229
Abstract
Clostridium tyrobutyricum is well known as one of the main causative agents of severe cheese spoilage. The metabolism of this anaerobic bacterium during ripening leads to textural and sensory defects in cheese and consequential loss of product value. The potential to induce cheese [...] Read more.
Clostridium tyrobutyricum is well known as one of the main causative agents of severe cheese spoilage. The metabolism of this anaerobic bacterium during ripening leads to textural and sensory defects in cheese and consequential loss of product value. The potential to induce cheese spoilage, however, may vary among different strains of the same species. Therefore, a better understanding of the intra-species diversity of C. tyrobutyricum may be of practical relevance for the dairy industry. In the present study, we compared the ability of three typing techniques to differentiate 95 C. tyrobutyricum strains on the subspecies level: (1) repetitive element palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) fingerprinting combined with conventional agarose gel electrophoresis, (2) hexaplex-PCR followed by an automated capillary electrophoresis and (3) matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) typing. MALDI-TOF MS fingerprinting provided only moderate reproducibility and low discriminatory power. Both PCR-based methods were highly reproducible and discriminative, with hexaplex-PCR fingerprinting being slightly more discriminative than rep-PCR typing. Overall, a high intra-species diversity was observed among the tested strains, indicating that further investigations on the strain level may be of interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control)
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14 pages, 2829 KiB  
Article
Implementation of Multispectral Imaging (MSI) for Microbiological Quality Assessment of Poultry Products
by Evgenia D. Spyrelli, Agapi I. Doulgeraki, Anthoula A. Argyri, Chrysoula C. Tassou, Efstathios Z. Panagou and George-John E. Nychas
Microorganisms 2020, 8(4), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8040552 - 11 Apr 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3080
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate on an industrial scale the potential of multispectral imaging (MSI) in the assessment of the quality of different poultry products. Therefore, samples of chicken breast fillets, thigh fillets, marinated souvlaki and burger were subjected to [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to investigate on an industrial scale the potential of multispectral imaging (MSI) in the assessment of the quality of different poultry products. Therefore, samples of chicken breast fillets, thigh fillets, marinated souvlaki and burger were subjected to MSI analysis during production together with microbiological analysis for the enumeration of Total Viable Counts (TVC) and Pseudomonas spp. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS-R) models were developed based on the spectral data acquired to predict the “time from slaughter” parameter for each product type. Results showed that PLS-R models could predict effectively the time from slaughter in all products, while the food matrix and variations within and between batches were identified as significant factors affecting the performance of the models. The chicken thigh model showed the lowest RMSE value (0.160) and an acceptable correlation coefficient (r = 0.859), followed by the chicken burger model where RMSE and r values were 0.285 and 0.778, respectively. Additionally, for the chicken breast fillet model the calculated r and RMSE values were 0.886 and 0.383 respectively, whereas for chicken marinated souvlaki, the respective values were 0.934 and 0.348. Further improvement of the provided models is recommended in order to develop efficient models estimating time from slaughter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control)
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Review

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29 pages, 2168 KiB  
Review
Spoilage of Chilled Fresh Meat Products during Storage: A Quantitative Analysis of Literature Data
by Ngoc-Du Martin Luong, Louis Coroller, Monique Zagorec, Jeanne-Marie Membré and Sandrine Guillou
Microorganisms 2020, 8(8), 1198; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8081198 - 06 Aug 2020
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 9275
Abstract
A literature search was performed on spoilage of fresh meat products by combining keyword query, text mining and expert elicitation. From the 258 collected studies, a quantitative analysis was first performed to identify the methods which are the most used to evaluate spoilage [...] Read more.
A literature search was performed on spoilage of fresh meat products by combining keyword query, text mining and expert elicitation. From the 258 collected studies, a quantitative analysis was first performed to identify the methods which are the most used to evaluate spoilage beside the preservation strategies suggested. In a second step focusing on a subset of 24 publications providing quantitative data on spoilage occurrence time, associations between spoilage occurrence time of meat products and specific spoilage indicators were investigated. The analysis especially focused on factors well represented in the 24 publications, i.e., gas packaging (O2 and CO2) and storage temperature. Relationships between spoilage occurrence and several microbiological indicators were also sought. The results point out possible advantages of removing dioxygen in packaging to delay spoilage occurrence, whereas, in the presence of dioxygen, the carbon dioxide proportion in the gas mixtures was shown to influence spoilage occurrence. The collected data clearly reveal a potentially protective role of lactic acid bacteria. Besides, while a spoilage role could be attributed to Pseudomonas spp., the growth of mesophilic aerobic microbes, Brochothrix spp. and Enterobacteriaceae seemed independent of spoilage occurrence time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Spoilage Microorganisms: Ecology and Control)
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