Food Packaging
Houshmand Sharafi; Fahimeh Ebrahimi Tirtashi
Abstract
Postbiotics are metabolites derived from probiotics and other beneficial microorganisms that due to containing organic acids, bacteriocins, and bioactive peptides possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. In recent years, the use of postbiotics as a functional agent for food packaging systems ...
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Postbiotics are metabolites derived from probiotics and other beneficial microorganisms that due to containing organic acids, bacteriocins, and bioactive peptides possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. In recent years, the use of postbiotics as a functional agent for food packaging systems has increased in popularity among researchers. However, although the postbiotics-packaging system has increased gradually, there are some obstacles that challenge it such as the safety and stability of novel beneficial microorganisms like mold as a next generation of postbiotics sources, parameters optimization of preparation and treatments of postbiotics, safety and performance of postbiotic carrier polymer and the sensorial effect of postbiotics on packaged foods. In addition, to ensure the consumption of packaged food with postbiotic-containing polymers, its safety needs to be thoroughly investigated, as research has shown that the postbiotic administration can have negative effects such as gastrointestinal complications, and allergies on the consumer body's health. Finally, for the entry of postbiotics as functional compounds into the food packaging market, the collaboration between academia and industry, clear labeling of packaged food and increasing consumer awareness about postbiotics are essential. Therefore, this study aims to briefly overview of the current status and future directions of postbiotics in food packaging.
Food Safety
Dabir Sharifi; Javad Aliakbarlu; Mohieddin Kazemi
Abstract
In recent years, the negative side effects of extensive use of chemical preservatives have become a major health concern. Therefore, it is necessary to find the safe and natural biological preservatives with health promotion effects. This study aimed to investigate the stimulatory effect of Persian shallot ...
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In recent years, the negative side effects of extensive use of chemical preservatives have become a major health concern. Therefore, it is necessary to find the safe and natural biological preservatives with health promotion effects. This study aimed to investigate the stimulatory effect of Persian shallot extract (PSE) on Lactobacillus acidophilus growth, and evaluate the individual and combined antibacterial effects of PSE, L. acidophilus and sodium nitrite against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of PSE were 2, 4, and 8 mg/mL against L. monocytogenes, S. Typhimurium, and L. acidophilus, respectively. The results revealed that PSE (0.05 mg/mL) significantly increased (up to 1.3 log10 CFU/mL) L. acidophilus growth compared to control group. The treatments of L. acidophilus and PSE as well as the treatment of L. acidophilus with sodium nitrite and PSE prevent the growth of L. monocytogenes completely. Also, the combined treatment of L. acidophilus and PSE showed the greatest antibacterial effect against S. Typhimurium, and caused 4.27 log10 CFU/mL reduction compared to control treatment. However, the combined treatment of L. acidophilus, PSE and sodium nitrite caused only 0.92 log10 CFU/mL reduction in S. Typhimurium count. It can be concluded that PSE not only could increase the growth of L. acidophilus but also had strong antibacterial properties, and combined use of PSE, L. acidophilus, and sodium nitrite showed significant anti-listeria activity.
Food Safety
soghra Valizadeh; Farzad Katiraee; Hamed Behniafar
Abstract
Plant-derived compounds possess robust antioxidant capabilities and exhibit notable antimicrobial activities against diverse pathogens. This study investigated the antioxidant activities of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Satureja hortensis (S. hortensis) and Cinnamomum zeylanicum (C. zeylanicum). ...
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Plant-derived compounds possess robust antioxidant capabilities and exhibit notable antimicrobial activities against diverse pathogens. This study investigated the antioxidant activities of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Satureja hortensis (S. hortensis) and Cinnamomum zeylanicum (C. zeylanicum). The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the extracts were also evaluated. The antifungal activity of methanolic extract of S. hortensis (MIC 1.25 mg/mL) was higher than that of the aqueous extract (MIC 5 mg/mL) on P. chrysogenum. For Candida species, especially C. albicans, MIC and MFC of methanolic extract were lower (MIC 0.31 mg/mL, MFC 1.25 mg/mL) than aqueous extract. The methanolic extract of C. zeylanicum exhibited a MIC of 0.31 mg/mL and MFC of 0.62 mg/mL against P. chrysogenum, outperforming the aqueous extract (MIC 0.62 mg/mL, MFC 1.25 mg/mL). Similarly, methanolic extracts showed markedly lower MIC values than the aqueous extracts against Candida species. In antioxidant activity of methanolic and aqueous extracts of both plants, ABTS values were consistently higher than DPPH results, likely due to ABTS's broader sensitivity to hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidants. In the DPPH assay, the methanolic extract of C. zeylanicum exhibited the highest antioxidant activity with a scavenging percentage of 89.16 ± 0.6%. In the ABTS method, the methanolic extract of C. zeylanicum exhibited highest antioxidant activity, with a scavenging percentage of 97.8 ± 0.1%. The results of this study indicate that S. hortensis and C. zeylanicum extracts are promising natural antifungals and antioxidants.
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