New Insight into the Mechanisms of Microbial Resistance and of Inactivation of New and Traditional Technologies for Food Preservation

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 12096

Special Issue Editors

Food Technology, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, (Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA), Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: thermal and nonthermal processing; physiology of foodborne pathogens; food safety; predictive microbiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Food Technology, Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, (Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA), Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: thermal and nonthermal technologies; food safety and stability; predictive microbiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The food industry is showing growing interest in developing alternative microbial inactivation methods and in improving traditional ones in order to obtain more nutritious and fresh-like, but equally safe, food products. The successful implementation of a novel technology for food preservation largely depends upon accurate knowledge of its mechanism of microbial inactivation but also, and at the same time, on a deep comprehension of the mechanisms of microbial resistance and/or adaptation to this technology. Application of this basic knowledge can also help to improve the design of already existing processes/technologies -for instance through the development of combined processes- leading to milder and/or more effective treatments that could fulfill consumer requirements while maintaining the advantages of traditional treatments.

Original research and review papers dealing with the mechanisms of inactivation and/or the mechanisms of microbial resistance/adaptation to traditional and novel food preservation technologies are all welcome for inclusion in this Special Issue.

Dr. Guillermo Cebrián
Dr. Ignacio Álvarez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Stress resistance responses
  • Microbial inactivation
  • Mechanism of action
  • Thermal technologies
  • Non-thermal technologies

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 3613 KiB  
Article
The Natural Antimicrobial trans-Cinnamaldehyde Interferes with UDP-N-Acetylglucosamine Biosynthesis and Cell Wall Homeostasis in Listeria monocytogenes
by Lei Sun, Gil Rogiers and Chris W. Michiels
Foods 2021, 10(7), 1666; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071666 - 20 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2619
Abstract
Trans-cinnamaldehyde (t-CIN), an antimicrobial compound from cinnamon essential oil, is of interest because it inhibits various foodborne pathogens. In the present work, we investigated the antimicrobial mechanisms of t-CIN in Listeria monocytogenes using a previously isolated yvcK::Himar1 transposon mutant [...] Read more.
Trans-cinnamaldehyde (t-CIN), an antimicrobial compound from cinnamon essential oil, is of interest because it inhibits various foodborne pathogens. In the present work, we investigated the antimicrobial mechanisms of t-CIN in Listeria monocytogenes using a previously isolated yvcK::Himar1 transposon mutant which shows hypersensitivity to t-CIN. Time-lapse microscopy revealed that t-CIN induces a bulging cell shape followed by lysis in the mutant. Complementation with wild-type yvcK gene completely restored the tolerance of yvcK::Himar1 strain to t-CIN and the cell morphology. Suppressor mutants which partially reversed the t-CIN sensitivity of the yvcK::Himar1 mutant were isolated from evolutionary experiments. Three out of five suppression mutations were in the glmU-prs operon and in nagR, which are linked to the biosynthesis of the peptidoglycan precursor uridine-diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc). GlmU catalyzes the last two steps of UDP-GlcNAc biosynthesis and NagR represses the uptake and utilization of N-acetylglucosamine. Feeding N-acetylglucosamine or increasing the production of UDP-GlcNAc synthetic enzymes fully or partially restored the t-CIN tolerance of the yvcK mutant. Together, these results suggest that YvcK plays a pivotal role in diverting substrates to UDP-GlcNAc biosynthesis in L. monocytogenes and that t-CIN interferes with this pathway, leading to a peptidoglycan synthesis defect. Full article
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13 pages, 1475 KiB  
Article
Impact of Heating Rates on Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris Heat Resistance under Non-Isothermal Treatments and Use of Mathematical Modelling to Optimize Orange Juice Processing
by Juan-Pablo Huertas, María Ros-Chumillas, Alberto Garre, Pablo S. Fernández, Arantxa Aznar, Asunción Iguaz, Arturo Esnoz and Alfredo Palop
Foods 2021, 10(7), 1496; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071496 - 28 Jun 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1955
Abstract
Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris is a spoilage microorganism responsible for relevant product and economic losses in the beverage and juice industry. Spores of this microorganism can survive industrial heat treatments and cause spoilage during posterior storage. Therefore, an effective design of processing treatments requires an [...] Read more.
Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris is a spoilage microorganism responsible for relevant product and economic losses in the beverage and juice industry. Spores of this microorganism can survive industrial heat treatments and cause spoilage during posterior storage. Therefore, an effective design of processing treatments requires an accurate understanding of the heat resistance of this microorganism. Considering that industrial treatments are dynamic; this understanding must include how the heat resistance of the microorganism is affected by the heating rate during the heating and cooling phases. The main objective of this study was to establish the effect of heating rates and complex thermal treatments on the inactivation kinetics of A. acidoterrestris. Isothermal experiments between 90 and 105 °C were carried out in a Mastia thermoresistometer, as well as four different dynamic treatments. Although most of the inactivation takes place during the holding phase, our results indicate the relevance of the heating phase for the effectiveness of the treatment. The thermal resistance of A. acidoterrestris is affected by the heating rate during the heating phase. Specifically, higher heating rates resulted in an increased microbial inactivation with respect to the one predicted based on isothermal experiments. These results provide novel information regarding the heat response of this microorganism, which can be valuable for the design of effective heat treatments to improve product safety and stability. Moreover, it highlights the need to incorporate experimental data based on dynamic treatments in process design, as heating rates can have a very significant effect on the thermal resistance of microorganisms. Full article
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14 pages, 674 KiB  
Article
Bacterial Spore Inactivation in Orange Juice and Orange Peel by Ultraviolet-C Light
by Pilar Colás-Medà, Iolanda Nicolau-Lapeña, Inmaculada Viñas, Isma Neggazi and Isabel Alegre
Foods 2021, 10(4), 855; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10040855 - 15 Apr 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2909
Abstract
Spore-forming bacteria are a great concern for fruit juice processors as they can resist the thermal pasteurization and the high hydrostatic pressure treatments that fruit juices receive during their processing, thus reducing their microbiological quality and safety. In this context, our objective was [...] Read more.
Spore-forming bacteria are a great concern for fruit juice processors as they can resist the thermal pasteurization and the high hydrostatic pressure treatments that fruit juices receive during their processing, thus reducing their microbiological quality and safety. In this context, our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light at 254 nm on reducing bacterial spores of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris, Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus cereus at two stages of orange juice production. To simulate fruit disinfection before processing, the orange peel was artificially inoculated with each of the bacterial spores and submitted to UV-C light (97.8–100.1 W/m2) with treatment times between 3 s and 10 min. The obtained product, the orange juice, was also tested by exposing the artificially inoculated juice to UV-C light (100.9–107.9 W/m2) between 5 and 60 min. A three-minute treatment (18.0 kJ/m2) reduced spore numbers on orange peel around 2 log units, while more than 45 min (278.8 kJ/m2) were needed to achieve the same reduction in orange juice for all evaluated bacterial spores. As raw fruits are the main source of bacterial spores in fruit juices, reducing bacterial spores on fruit peels could help fruit juice processors to enhance the microbiological quality and safety of fruit juices. Full article
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Review

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30 pages, 1392 KiB  
Review
Impact of the Resistance Responses to Stress Conditions Encountered in Food and Food Processing Environments on the Virulence and Growth Fitness of Non-Typhoidal Salmonellae
by Silvia Guillén, Laura Nadal, Ignacio Álvarez, Pilar Mañas and Guillermo Cebrián
Foods 2021, 10(3), 617; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10030617 - 14 Mar 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3675
Abstract
The success of Salmonella as a foodborne pathogen can probably be attributed to two major features: its remarkable genetic diversity and its extraordinary ability to adapt. Salmonella cells can survive in harsh environments, successfully compete for nutrients, and cause disease once inside the [...] Read more.
The success of Salmonella as a foodborne pathogen can probably be attributed to two major features: its remarkable genetic diversity and its extraordinary ability to adapt. Salmonella cells can survive in harsh environments, successfully compete for nutrients, and cause disease once inside the host. Furthermore, they are capable of rapidly reprogramming their metabolism, evolving in a short time from a stress-resistance mode to a growth or virulent mode, or even to express stress resistance and virulence factors at the same time if needed, thanks to a complex and fine-tuned regulatory network. It is nevertheless generally acknowledged that the development of stress resistance usually has a fitness cost for bacterial cells and that induction of stress resistance responses to certain agents can trigger changes in Salmonella virulence. In this review, we summarize and discuss current knowledge concerning the effects that the development of resistance responses to stress conditions encountered in food and food processing environments (including acid, osmotic and oxidative stress, starvation, modified atmospheres, detergents and disinfectants, chilling, heat, and non-thermal technologies) exerts on different aspects of the physiology of non-typhoidal Salmonellae, with special emphasis on virulence and growth fitness. Full article
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