Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Aidan Coffey

Abstract

Fungal food spoilage plays a pivotal role in the deterioration of food and feed systems and some fungi are also able to produce compounds toxic for humans and animals. The mycotoxins produced by fungi can cause serious health hazards and include toxins which are cancerogenic, immunotoxic, teratogenic, neurotoxic, nephrotoxic or hepatotoxic effects and Kashin-Beck disease. In addition to this, fungal spoilage/pathogens cause losses of marketable quality and hygiene of foodstuffs, resulting in major economic problem throughout the world. Nowadays, food spoilage can be prevented using physical and chemical methods, but no efficient strategy has been proposed so far to reduce the microbial growth ensuring public health. Recently applications of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been proposed as natural preservatives. The protection of food products using LAB is mainly due to the production of antifungal compounds such as carboxylic acids, fatty acids, ethanol, carbon dioxide, hydrogen peroxide and bacteriocins. In addition to this, LAB can also positively contribute to the flavour, texture and nutritional value of food products. This review mainly focuses on the use of LAB for food preservation given their extensive industrial application in a wide range of foods and feeds. Emphasis is placed on the several industrial patents concerning the use of antifungal LAB as biocontrol agent against spoilage organisms in different fermented foods and feeds.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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