Microbiological Safety of Beverages

A special issue of Beverages (ISSN 2306-5710).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2018) | Viewed by 21847

Special Issue Editor

School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Interests: microbiology and food safety; yeasts; Listeria; traditional food and drinks; extracellular polymeric substances; biofilms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Beverages satisfy basic needs for humans, but if they become contaminated, microorganisms can proliferate and cause spoilage or food poisoning. Recently, repeated detection of microbes, including enterobacteriaceae, in classic beverages such as carbonated soft drinks dispensed from fountain machines in developed countries, are now a major concern. For traditional fermented and non-fermented beverages, the beneficial or detrimental roles of microorganisms that are present are still not well explored. Therefore, it is important that more studies be carried out on the microbial safety of beverages, especially during manufacturing, handling, and storage. This Special Issue welcomes articles on microorganisms present in all types of beverages, with a clear connection to food safety. It covers new applications, microbial surveys, risk assessment, detection and quantification of microbial metabolites or toxins present in beverages. Reports dealing only with prevalence, characterization or identification (16S or 26S sequencing) of microorganisms will only be considered if new scientific information is included.

Dr. Ogueri Nwaiwu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Beverages is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1515 KiB  
Article
Bioactivity of Fucoidan as an Antimicrobial Agent in a New Functional Beverage
by Gabriela Del Carmen Poveda-Castillo, Dolores Rodrigo, Antonio Martínez and Maria Consuelo Pina-Pérez
Beverages 2018, 4(3), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages4030064 - 01 Sep 2018
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6295
Abstract
Seaweeds are a sustainable source of novel functional ingredients with applicability in pharmaceutics, biotechnology, and food science. The bioactivity of most of these marine compounds has scarcely been studied. The present study overviews the bioactivity of the polysaccharide fucoidan derived from Fucus vesiculosus [...] Read more.
Seaweeds are a sustainable source of novel functional ingredients with applicability in pharmaceutics, biotechnology, and food science. The bioactivity of most of these marine compounds has scarcely been studied. The present study overviews the bioactivity of the polysaccharide fucoidan derived from Fucus vesiculosus brown algae as an antimicrobial agent against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The results obtained in vitro in reference medium reveal a bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect of fucoidan against both pathogens, this bioactivity being significantly dependent (p-value ≤ 0.05) on the concentration, 5–1000 μg/mL, temperature, 8–37 °C, and exposure time, 0–12 days. The results were validated in the formulation of a new functional pasteurized apple beverage to be commercialized under refrigeration. Fucoidan added at 25–100 μg/mL was highly effective against both pathogens. These results increase knowledge for the future formulation of new functional beverages that include marine compounds (high content in fibre, high content in protein; prebiotic and antioxidant properties), additionally revealing antimicrobial potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety of Beverages)
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10 pages, 615 KiB  
Article
Prevalence and Characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes Isolates in Raw Milk, Heated Milk and Nunu, a Spontaneously Fermented Milk Beverage, in Ghana
by James Owusu-Kwarteng, Alhassan Wuni, Fortune Akabanda and Lene Jespersen
Beverages 2018, 4(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages4020040 - 23 May 2018
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6225
Abstract
Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive food-borne pathogen that causes listeriosis in humans. Currently, there is little information on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk and traditional yoghurt-like milk beverage, nunu, in Ghana. The purpose of this study was to investigate the [...] Read more.
Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive food-borne pathogen that causes listeriosis in humans. Currently, there is little information on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk and traditional yoghurt-like milk beverage, nunu, in Ghana. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of L. monocytogenes isolates in raw cow milk, boiled milk and nunu in Ghana, and to characterize these L. monocytogenes isolates according to their serogroups, virulence potentials and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. A total of 254 samples comprising 114 raw cow milk, 56 boiled milk and 84 nunu were collected from dairy farms and market vendors for detection of L. monocytogenes. The overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes in raw milk, boiled milk and nunu was 5.5% (14/254). Listeria monocytogenes was prevalent in raw cow milk (8.8%; 10/114) and nunu (13.1%; 11/84), while no Listeria spp. was not detected in boiled milk. A total of 62 L. monocytogenes isolates were analysed to belong to molecular serogroups 1/2a-3a (32/62, 51.6%), 1/2b-3b-7 (14/62, 22.6%), 4b-4d-4e (9/62, 14.5%) and 1/2c-3c (7/62, 11.3%). All 62 L. monocytogenes isolates harbored the virulence-associated genes inlA, inlB, inlC, inlJ, plcA, actA, hlyA, iap and prfA. All Listeria monocytogenes in the present study were generally susceptible to the tested antibiotics, except neomycin and tetracycline, for which phenotypic resistance was observed among isolates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety of Beverages)
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Review

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20 pages, 906 KiB  
Review
An Overview on Biogenic Amines in Wine
by Antonella Costantini, Enrico Vaudano, Laura Pulcini, Tommaso Carafa and Emilia Garcia-Moruno
Beverages 2019, 5(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages5010019 - 01 Mar 2019
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 8157
Abstract
Biogenic amines (BAs) are low molecular weight compounds formed from precursor amino acids, mainly by microbial decarboxylation. The presence of these compounds is important in the food and beverage industry because, in high amounts, they can lead to negative effects on consumers. In [...] Read more.
Biogenic amines (BAs) are low molecular weight compounds formed from precursor amino acids, mainly by microbial decarboxylation. The presence of these compounds is important in the food and beverage industry because, in high amounts, they can lead to negative effects on consumers. In this review, we illustrate the critical aspects needed to control the formation of BAs during winemaking and their presence in the final product. Recent biotechnological approaches related to microorganisms and their ability to reduce BAs are illustrated. The current methods used for BA detection and quantification are also presented. These methods are very important to consider, as BAs can serve as markers for the quality assessment of products. The information presented here offers an overview useful for identifying specific parameters and conditions which should be controlled to minimise BA content in wine; knowledge about BAs in foods and beverages has been accumulating in recent years, not only to ensure and improve quality (since BAs have been used as an indicator of spoilage) but especially to guarantee consumer safety due to the potential toxic effects of BAs on humans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety of Beverages)
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