Resistance of spoilage lactobacillus Spp. to food processing technologies

Food processing preservation requisites are based on achieving an adequate foodsafety and prolonged shelf-life while maintaining the fresh character and qualityproperties of food. To preserve food and prolong the shelf-life, thermal pasteurization isthe most common processing technology employed, but thermal processing can damagethe original characteristics of food. Recently, some emerging non-thermal technologies(high pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, high pressure carbon dioxide, highpressure homogenization) along with new applications of non-conventional thermaltechnologies such as microwave irradiation have appeared in the market due to theconsumers demand for food with fresh-like characteristics. To establish the optimumtreatment conditions of a new technology requires not only studies on the influence of thevarious process parameters on the death of the microorganism and quality factors, butalso the choice of a reference microorganism on which to carry out the studies.Lactobacillus spp. such as Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillussporogenes, Lactobacillus hilgardii and Lactobacillus viridescens are consideredcommon spoilage microflora encountered in fruit juices, vegetable-based products, wineand meat. Lactobacillus bacteria are capable of growing over a wide pH range andspoiling minimally processed foods owing to its aciduric nature, producing qualitydetrimental effects. The high resistance to different processing technologies and acidicconditions make Lactobacillus genus a target microbial factor to be considered whendesigning a new processing treatment.