Plant Extracts Used to Control Microbial Growth: Efficacy, Stability and Safety Issues for Food Applications
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 March 2024) | Viewed by 33310
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food microbiology; food safety; antimicrobial compounds; foodborne pathogens; food quality; hygiene; food preservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: bioactive compounds from plants; food quality and safety; bioactivity; plant secondary metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant-based extracts include several compounds endowed with antimicrobial activity (e.g., phenolic compounds, terpenes, isothiocyanates) and have attracted significant attention due to their efficacy against spoilage microorganisms (including bacteria, yeasts, and fungi) and foodborne pathogens. Plant-based extracts have been used to control microbial growth in different foods and to limit the spread of foodborne pathogens and antibiotic resistance. The antimicrobial action of plant extracts (e.g., control of microbial growth, reduction in biofilm production) depends on the chemical composition of the extract and the microbial targets. Despite the antimicrobial action of plant extracts, their use as food preservatives is limited by their stability under processing or storage conditions. Therefore, several strategies have been proposed to enhance their stability (e.g., encapsulation, inclusion in biopolymers, spray-drying, and so on). However, plant extracts can be contaminated with several toxic compounds or accumulate dangerous compounds (e.g., heavy metals, mycotoxins, residues of crop protection products). For this reason, safety issues related to the use of plant extracts are of great interest.
Against this background, the Special Issue aims to collect original papers and reviews on this topic.
Dr. Loris Pinto
Dr. Jesús Fernando Ayala-Zavala
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Plant extracts
- Phenolic compounds
- Terpenes
- Spoilage microorganisms
- Pathogens
- Encapsulation
- Additives
- Food preservatives
- Active packaging
- Chemical characterization
- Safety assessment
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