About this Research Topic

Background

Increasing interest has recently been given to food safety and microbiological food quality. This is probably due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the growing consumer awareness of the importance of safe and nutritious food, to enhance the immune system and keep healthy. However, it is well known that the large application of synthetic additives in food industry may have potential adverse effects on human health, hence the increased demand for effective natural antimicrobial alternatives. On the other hand, an urgent need for innovative non-destructive methods to determine the microbiological quality of food products has been raised.

The present Research Topic is placed in this context, and aims to provide a collection of innovative and natural preservative approaches that can be used instead of the traditionally applied synthetic additive - to extend shelf life and maintain food quality. Attention will also be devoted to bioactive compounds that could be extracted from both foods and their by-products. Moreover, a special focus will be placed on emerging analytical techniques to replace traditional destructive and time-consuming methods.

This Research Topic welcomes original research papers and review articles covering the following topics and sub-themes:
• Exploration, by modern analytical methods, of natural bioactive compounds as green natural preservatives to inhibit common foodborne pathogens.
• Determination of microbiological quality of food products using non-destructive analytical techniques.
• Identification of novel foodborne pathogens and simulation of their interactions with specific molecules or compounds.
• Assessment of natural antimicrobial efficacy and safety in food preservation by using in vitro/in vivo studies combined with in silico models.
• Evaluation of the toxicity safety levels of specific molecules or compounds applied in food industry.

Keywords: Natural antimicrobials, New microbiological approaches, Modern analytical methods, food safety, food security, foodborne pathogens, food industry

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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