Special Issue: Natural Alternative Antimicrobial Compounds to Improve Food Safety and Quality

The recent changes in food production and processing practices, the ever-changing eating habits of consumers, and the globalization of the food market are important factors affecting the safety and quality of foods. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it has recently been reported that "food-borne infections" cause about 76 million cases of illness, 325,000 hospitalizations, and as many as 5,000 deaths per year in the U.S. (likely underestimated). The presence of food-borne pathogens in raw materials has been widely documented. The risks associated with the consumption of minimally processed ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, lightly preserved products, and refrigerated or frozen products are related to the possible growth of these microorganisms during food storage at refrigeration temperatures. For example, the trend towards the consumption of RTE foods increased the incidence of diseases caused by psychrotrophic bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, an important pathogen that primarily affects immunocompromised individuals and pregnant women. Another related topic is microbial food spoilage. It is estimated that as much as 25% of all produced food is lost after harvest and a significant part is of poor quality due to microbial activity. The growth of spoilage microbiota in foods (i.e. Pseudomonas spp., Flavobacterium spp., Bacillus spp., coliforms, etc.) is generally not harmful; however, it has a negative impact on shelf-life, organoleptic characteristics, and overall quality of the finished products, thus affecting consumer choices and resulting in significant commercial losses. If bacterial growth could be delayed or inhibited, it would be possible to obtain a great advantage regards public health and food product shelf-life. For this purpose, chemical preservatives are still employed, but because there are many concerns about them, consumers seem to prefer the use of natural products and are looking for foods that appear "more green". The current trend in food processing is therefore focusing on natural antimicrobial compounds (from microorganisms, plants, etc.). Another possibility is related to the development of "active food packaging", meaning to incorporate compounds with antibacterial activity in PVOH-based coatings. This approach can be extended to directly include bacteriocin-producing bacteria endowed with probiotic activity and is therefore full of perspectives for future applications in the food and health industry. This Special Issue will address cutting-edge research and review articles related to recent developments on the application of alternative naturally produced antimicrobials throughout the whole chain of the food industry to improve the quality and safety of food. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following: Natural alternative preservatives/antimicrobials of plant origin e.g. Essential oils, plant derived compounds (polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids, thymol, carvacrol, phenolics, quinones, saponins, terpenoids etc), plant by-products (seeds, peels, kernels, pulps, etc) Natural preservatives/antimicrobials from algae, fungi and edible mushrooms Natural alternative preservatives/antimicrobials of animal origin e.g. lysozyme, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, casein, lipids, protamines, chitozan Natural alternative preservatives and antimicrobials from microorganisms, e.g. acidophilin, bacteriocins, lactocin, natamycin, nisins, reutirin, bacteriophages Active food packaging added with live probiotic bacteria endowed with antimicrobial effect, e.g. Enterococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Bacillus spp., etc