Natural Antimicrobial Preservatives

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 15214

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Interests: antimicrobial activity evaluation of plant extracts; buccal formulations; challenge test; cosmetic preservatives; veterinary formulations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The need to control microbial growth occurs in different fields of application, such as foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and personal care products, just to name the most important. In these sectors, the use of preservative compounds serves a dual purpose, to protect products against microbial spoilage and to safeguard consumers’ health. For some time now, many synthetic compounds, previously well accepted as preservatives in the abovementioned areas, have come under scientific and regulatory scrutiny because of health-related allegations and their environmental impact. As a consequence of these concerns, natural antimicrobials are been given more attention, and their use is becoming increasingly frequent; ideally, preservatives obtained from natural sources could more closely meet the requirements of safety and marketing appeal.

This Special Issue of “Applied Sciences” intends to focus on natural compounds derived from plant, animal, and bacterial sources intended for use as preservatives in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. Review articles describing the current state-of-art are also welcome.

Dr. Claudia Clelia Assunta Juliano
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. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • natural preservatives
  • microbial contamination
  • natural antimicrobial compounds
  • drugs
  • food
  • cosmetics
  • personal care products

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 1494 KiB  
Article
Potential Application of Propolis Extracts to Control the Growth of Stemphylium vesicarium in “Rocha” Pear
by Marcella Loebler, Claudia Sánchez, Elisabete Muchagato Maurício, Eugénio Diogo, Mário Santos, Paula Vasilenko, Ana Sofia Cruz, Benilde Mendes, Margarida Gonçalves and Maria Paula Duarte
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(6), 1990; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10061990 - 14 Mar 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3256
Abstract
Stemphylium vesicarium (Wallr.) E. G. Simmons is the pathogen responsible of brown spot disease in pear and has become one of the main concerns for European pear producers. In Portugal, S. vesicarium is responsible for significant yield reduction and economic losses in “Rocha” [...] Read more.
Stemphylium vesicarium (Wallr.) E. G. Simmons is the pathogen responsible of brown spot disease in pear and has become one of the main concerns for European pear producers. In Portugal, S. vesicarium is responsible for significant yield reduction and economic losses in “Rocha” pear (Pyrus communis L. cv Rocha) production. Considering the antimicrobial potential of propolis, the high incidence of brown spot in pears and the emergence of fungicides resistance in S. vesicarium, this study aimed to evaluate the potential of Portuguese propolis as an alternative strategy to control brown spot disease in “Rocha” pear. In vitro assays showed that propolis extracts were able to inhibit up to 90% the S. vesicarium mycelial growth. In vivo assays in artificially wounded and inoculated “Rocha” pears showed that, compared to the control, the disease incidence decreased up to 25% and the lesions diameter up to 57%, in fruits treated with propolis. Moreover, propolis seems to be more efficient in reducing the disease incidence when applied after pathogen inoculation (curative assay) than when applied before pathogen inoculation (prophylactic assay). Thus, the results suggest that propolis extracts have potential to be applied as part of an integrated approach for the control of brown spot of pear. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antimicrobial Preservatives)
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 1406 KiB  
Article
Sublethal Injury Caused to Listeria monocytogenes by Natural Plant Extracts: Case Study on Grape Seed Extract and Garlic Extract
by Davy Verheyen, Maria Baka and Jan F. M. Van Impe
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(13), 2731; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9132731 - 5 Jul 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2902
Abstract
Natural antimicrobials, such as grape seed extract (GSE) and garlic extract (GE), are often used as (a part of) novel food preservation technologies, especially due to their antilisterial effect. However, little is known on the extent of sublethal injury (SI) these extracts cause [...] Read more.
Natural antimicrobials, such as grape seed extract (GSE) and garlic extract (GE), are often used as (a part of) novel food preservation technologies, especially due to their antilisterial effect. However, little is known on the extent of sublethal injury (SI) these extracts cause to Listeria monocytogenes, possibly leading to overestimated efficacies for such novel technologies. The influence of both extracts on the sublethal injury of L. monocytogenes strain LMG23775 was investigated, also using propidium iodide staining to investigate the nature of the injury. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were 500 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/L and 7.5 μg allicin/mL for GSE and GE, respectively. These concentrations slowed down the growth of L. monocytogenes, while only causing a significant amount of SI for GSE. Pure extracts caused inactivation of the cells, with GSE being the most effective. Sublethal injury from pure GSE was mainly caused by membrane damage. In pure GE, a significant amount of SI, not caused by membrane damage, was also present, albeit less pronounced than in pure GSE. In conclusion, both extracts cause a significant amount of sublethal injury to L. monocytogenes, which is not taken into account in relevant studies investigating novel food preservation applications involving natural plant extracts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antimicrobial Preservatives)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

18 pages, 707 KiB  
Review
Humulus lupulus L. as a Natural Source of Functional Biomolecules
by Gonzalo Astray, Patricia Gullón, Beatriz Gullón, Paulo E. S. Munekata and José M. Lorenzo
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(15), 5074; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10155074 - 23 Jul 2020
Cited by 54 | Viewed by 8491
Abstract
Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are used traditionally in the brewing industry to confer bitterness, aroma, and flavor to beer. However, in recent years, it has been reported that female inflorescences contain a huge variety of bioactive compounds. Due to the growing interest [...] Read more.
Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are used traditionally in the brewing industry to confer bitterness, aroma, and flavor to beer. However, in recent years, it has been reported that female inflorescences contain a huge variety of bioactive compounds. Due to the growing interest of the consumers by natural ingredients, intense research has been carried out in the last years to find new sources of functional molecules. This review collects the works about the bioactive potential of hops with applications in the food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetic industries. Moreover, an overview of the main extraction technologies to recover biomolecules from hops is shown. Bioactivities of hop extracts such as antibacterial, antifungal, cardioprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, and antiviral are also summarized. It can be concluded that hops present a high potential of bioactive ingredients with high quality that can be used as preservative agents in fresh foods, extending their shelf life, and they can be incorporated in cosmetic formulation for skincare as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antimicrobial Preservatives)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop