Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss food microbiology and how the activity of microbes affect food quality and the topic of fermentation. The chapter is divided into five sections. 1. Introduction, scope of food and microbiology, sources of microbes in foods, structure and shape of microbes, motility of microbes. 2. Growth of microbes, bacterial numbers and its significance, monitoring growth of bacteria. 3. Factors influencing microbial growth, extrinsic and Intrinsic parameters, the effects of Moisture, pH and titrable acidity, redox potential (Eh), nutrient content, antimicrobial agents and preservatives, temperature, oxygen requirements, potentially hazardous foods and temperature control for safety. 4. Effect of microbes on foods, undesirable change, food spoilage. 5. Food fermentation, benefits and advantages of fermentation, fermented for preservation, fermented dairy products, traditional fermentation products, regulation microbial food cultures, United States fermented food regulations. With 81 references.
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Notes
- 1.
Bacteria form slimy extracellular polysaccharides, which are the major constituents of biofilms, along with some protein, lipids and DNA. Biofilm formation protects communities of bacterial embedded in it.
- 2.
Wikipedia lists, Thiomargarita namibiensis (diameter 0.1–0.7 mm or 100–700 um) as the largest bacterial known and about visible to the naked eye. Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomargarita_namibiensis
- 3.
It should be noted that microorganisms must live in liquid material, and when they grow on food surfaces, they are actually living in the liquid available on or in the food.
- 4.
Acidity is routinely measured as pH (negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration. pH = −log [H+]. The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14. A pH value of 1–7 indicates acidic foods whereas pH 7–14 is alkaline. Neutrality is indicated by pH 7.0.
- 5.
This is the same devise used by electricians to check for live circuits, or by in laboratories to measure pH values. A new generation of digital millivolt meters are available that allow redox measurements for monitoring wastewater quality.
- 6.
In 1962 the FDA introduced the term potentially hazardous food defined as: “any perishable food which consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, or other ingredients capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.”
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Owusu-Apenten, R., Vieira, E. (2023). Food Microbes, Quality and Fermentation. In: Elementary Food Science. Food Science Text Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65433-7_7
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