Microbial food spoilage

Abstract

Descriptions of the potentially negative influence of microorganisms on food quality often focus on describing potential disease-causing organisms. Typically, many reviews or books on food microbiology contain many sections or chapters describing different pathogenic agents, and often spoilage of all foods is dealt with in a briefer manner. Although microbial spoilage of foods may somehow not be as spectacular as the intriguing behaviour of pathogenic agents, the problem must not be underestimated. Thus, microbial growth and metabolism, which is the major cause of post-harvest spoilage of foods, causes an estimated loss of 10-50% of all raw agricultural commodities produced globally (1). In some cases (fruits, vegetables, nuts), spoilage processes may also be initiated pre-harvest.