Naturally occurring compounds-Plant sources

LOPEZ-MALO, AURELIO; ALZAMORA, STELLA M.; PARIS, MARÍA; LASTRA-VARGAS, LEONOR; CORONEL, MARÍA BERNARDA; GÓMEZ, PAULA L.; PALOU, ENRIQUE

Antimicrobials in Foods

Taylor and Francis Group LLC, CRC Press

Lugar: Delaware; Año: 2019;

Concerns about the use of antimicrobial agents in food products have been discussed for decades. Both the increasing demand for reduced-additive (including antimicrobial agents) and more ?natural? foods,and the increasing demand for greater convenience have promoted the search for alternative antimicrobial agents or combinations to be used by the food industry . In this search, a wide range of natural systems from animals, plants, and microorganisms are being studied. However, mainly economic aspects originating in the strict requirements to obtain approval and efforts to get the product onto the market restrict the spectrum of new chemical compounds that can help in the preservation of foods. The application of chemical antimicrobial agents in food preservation is regulated in the United States of America by the Food andDrug Administration (FDA) and in other countries by appropriate corresponding authorities. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations, testing and recommending usage and safety of chemicals in foods and acceptable daily intakes (ADI), regulate chemical antimicrobials internationally. In the US, chemicals in foods are examined according to the Food Additives Amendment of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, specifying the procedures and conditions required for a chemical food additive to be approved. These obstacles have originated the search for emerging preservatives by examining compounds already utilized by the food industry,perhaps with other purposes, but with potential as antimicrobials, approved and not toxic in the levels used, many of them classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Within these compounds are, for example, the so-called ?green chemicals? present in plants that are utilized as flavor ingredients. Although many natural systems have potential to be used as antimicrobials, this chapter will focus mainly on natural antimicrobials from plants and their possible application in foods.