Characterization of Natural Antimicrobials in Food System

Abstract

There has been a rising interest in using natural antimicrobial compounds in food industry due to current trend of giving value to natural and renewable resources. These antimicrobials provide new modalities to ensure microbial safety and extend the shelf-life of foodstuffs. Natural antimicrobials can be directly added into the food, but several efforts have been made to find alternative solutions to the aim of avoiding undesirable inactivation. Some different ways such as, dipping, spraying, and coating treatment of food are currently applied to product before packaging considered as valid options. The present paper aims to review the use of natural compounds to control microbiological and physicochemical shelf life of major food categories such as, meat, fish, dairy-based products, fruit and vegetables, and cereal-based products.