Promotion of Food Safety and Functional Improvement Using Microorganisms

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 503

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Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale”, Campo Boario, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Interests: food safety; food microbiology; microbial genetics and physiology; gene cloning; antibiotic resistance; foodborne pathogens; bacteriocins; food microbial ecology; fermentation and ripening; gene expression
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food safety, quality, and health-promoting effects often depend on the struggle between beneficial and detrimental microorganisms. The former, mainly lactic acid bacteria (LAB), propionic acid bacteria (PAB), some yeast species, and single strains of coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS), can modify the properties of the raw materials, leading to food products lasting longer and having desirable sensory properties. In addition, beneficial microorganisms can inhibit spoiling and pathogenic microbial species in food via different mechanisms, mostly involving the production of organic acids and antimicrobial peptides. Moreover, antagonism at the single-strain level can lead to the inhibition of bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which can be present in foods with a complex microbiota.

At the same time, beneficial bacteria can enrich food products with health-promoting metabolites such as vitamins and anti-hypertensive compounds. They can also detoxify substances that cause harm to consumers.

Selected cultures of beneficial microorganisms are widely exploited in the production of fermented and ripened foods and as protective cultures for fresh products with a short shelf life. However, there is still room for improvement in the application of novel strains and their combination and the mode of use to increase the efficacy of beneficial microorganisms when it comes to guaranteeing safety and enhancing sensory quality and health-promoting effects in foods.

Therefore, this Special Issue will showcase articles highlighting advancements in improving the safety, quality, and health-promoting properties of foods through the use of microorganisms or their metabolites, based on the belief that research in this field can lead to practical innovations for the production of safer and healthier foods.

Dr. Franca Rossi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • beneficial microorganisms
  • food spoilage prevention
  • foodborne pathogen inhibition
  • antagonism toward antibiotic resistance gene carriers
  • enrichment in health-promoting substances
  • detoxification
  • shelf life extension
  • improvement of sensory properties

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 325 KiB  
Article
Chalk Yeasts Cause Gluten-Free Bread Spoilage
by Michela Pellegrini, Lucilla Iacumin, Francesca Coppola, Federica Barbieri, Chiara Montanari, Fausto Gardini and Giuseppe Comi
Microorganisms 2025, 13(6), 1385; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061385 - 14 Jun 2025
Viewed by 367
Abstract
Four different yeast strains were isolated from industrial gluten-free bread (GFB) purchased from a local supermarket. These strains, including Hyphopichia burtonii, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, and Cyberlindnera fabianii, are responsible for spoilage, which consists of white powdery and filamentous [...] Read more.
Four different yeast strains were isolated from industrial gluten-free bread (GFB) purchased from a local supermarket. These strains, including Hyphopichia burtonii, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, and Cyberlindnera fabianii, are responsible for spoilage, which consists of white powdery and filamentous colonies due to the fragmentation of hyphae into short-length fragments (dust-type spots) that is typical of the spoilage produced by chalk yeasts. The isolated strains were identified using genomic analysis. Among them, C. fabianii was also isolated, which is a rare ascomycetous opportunistic yeast species with low virulence attributes, uncommonly implicated in bread spoilage. The yeast growth was studied in vitro on Malt Extract Agar (MEA) at two temperatures (20 and 25 °C) and at different Aws (from 0.99 to 0.90). It was inferred that the temperature did not influence the growth. On the contrary, different Aws reduced the growth, but all the yeast strains could grow until a minimum Aw of about 0.90. Different preservatives (ethanol, hop extract, and sorbic and propionic acids) were used to prevent the growth. In MEA, the growth was reduced but not inhibited. In addition, the vapor-phase antimicrobial activity of different preservatives such as ethanol and hop extract was studied in MEA. Both preservatives completely inhibited the yeast growth either at 20 or at 25 °C. Both preservatives were found in GFB slices. Contrary to hop extract, 2% (v/w) ethanol completely inhibited all the strains. The spoilage was also confirmed by the presence of various compounds typically present in yeasts, derived from sugar fermentation and amino acid degradation. These compounds included alcohols, ketones, organic acids, and esters, and they were identified at higher concentrations in the spoiled samples than in the unspoiled samples. The concentration of acetic acid was low only in the spoiled samples, as this compound was consumed by yeasts, which are predominately present in the spoiled samples, to produce acetate esters. Full article
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