Effectiveness of Chitosan as Naturally-Derived Antimicrobial to Fulfill the Needs of Today’s Consumers Looking for Food without Hazards of Chemical Preservatives
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: With consumers growing awareness and concerns regarding chemically synthesized preservatives, novel and safe natural antimicrobials targeting food pathogens with minimum adversative effects have attracted much more attention. So, the overall objective of this study is to develop natural antimicrobials (chitosan), for controlling the growth of foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms with good potential for use as preservative agents to improve food safety. Evaluation of the antimicrobial efficacy of chitosan was assessed against five foodborne bacterial isolates, including Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. As well as, against a panel of fungi/yeast including Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium italicum, Rhizopus stolonifer and Candida albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using a broth microdilution method against tested microorganisms and the biofilm inhibition activity against foodborne bacterial isolates were performed. The chitosan possessed strong antibacterial/antifungal activities against all tested microorganisms with markedly stronger antifungal activity. Moreover, Gram-negative bacteria more affected by chitosan than Gram-positive one. Based on their MIC values, chitosan showed a broad spectrum of actions against tested Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi/yeast strains, and this effect was concentration dependent. As well as, chitosan was able to overcome the biofilm formation of some tested bacteria as dose-dependent manner, at sub-MICs. Finally, the effectiveness of chitosan against foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms demonstrated in this study may prompt future applications of chitosan as a promising alternative of traditional antimicrobials in food biopreservation to fulfill the concept of “natural” or “healthy” foods that consumers are increasingly demanding.
Source: Journal of Microbiology Research
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2741740434