Microbial Safety and Beneficial Microorganisms in Foods

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1164

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Peloponnese, 24100 Antikalamos, Greece
Interests: food technology; food engineering; food safety; food quality; extra virgin olive oil; mycotoxins; fermented foods
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The role of microorganisms in food has been acknowledged since antiquity. However, the modern era has witnessed a significant advancement in our comprehension of the intricate ways microorganisms can exert detrimental and beneficial effects on the food system. Pathogenic microorganisms, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli, can potentially cause severe foodborne illnesses. Conversely, beneficial microbes have been shown to enhance food stability, safety, and nutritional value. Recent research has focused on elucidating the complex interactions between foodborne pathogens and their environments, thereby facilitating the development of enhanced detection and control methodologies. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in utilizing beneficial microorganisms in food production, particularly in fermented foods and biopreservation. Applying genomics and molecular tracing networks has significantly enhanced our capacity to track and control microbial hazards in food.

This Special Issue provides a platform for researchers to advance our knowledge of microbial safety and the beneficial use of microorganisms in food. It aims to collect and publish recent reviews and research articles on topics such as:

  • The role of microorganisms in food fermentation and its impact on food safety and quality;
  • The use of beneficial microorganisms in food manufacturing, including the production of fermented foods and beverages;
  • The application of microorganisms in food processing to improve nutritional content and create value-added products.

Prof. Dr. Theodoros Varzakas
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • microbial safety
  • foodborne pathogens
  • beneficial microorganisms
  • food processing
  • fermentation-oriented foods
  • probiotics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

59 pages, 1311 KiB  
Review
A Review on Recent Trends in Bacteriophages for Post-Harvest Food Decontamination
by Márcia Braz, Carla Pereira, Carmen S. R. Freire and Adelaide Almeida
Microorganisms 2025, 13(3), 515; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13030515 - 27 Feb 2025
Viewed by 490
Abstract
Infectious diseases resulting from unsafe food consumption are a global concern. Despite recent advances and control measures in the food industry aimed at fulfilling the growing consumer demand for high-quality and safe food products, infection outbreaks continue to occur. This review stands out [...] Read more.
Infectious diseases resulting from unsafe food consumption are a global concern. Despite recent advances and control measures in the food industry aimed at fulfilling the growing consumer demand for high-quality and safe food products, infection outbreaks continue to occur. This review stands out by providing an overview of post-harvest food decontamination methods against some of the most important bacterial foodborne pathogens, with particular focus on the advantages and challenges of using phages, including their most recent post-harvest applications directly to food and integration into active food packaging systems, highlighting their potential in providing safer and healthier food products. The already approved commercial phage products and the numerous available studies demonstrate their antibacterial efficacy against some of the most problematic foodborne pathogens in different food products, reinforcing their possible use in the future as a current practice in the food industry for food decontamination. Moreover, the incorporation of phages into packaging materials holds particular promise, providing protection against harsh conditions and enabling their controlled and continuous release into the food matrix. The effectiveness of phage-added packaging materials in reducing the growth of pathogens in food systems has been well-demonstrated. However, there are still some challenges associated with the development of phage-based packaging systems that need to be addressed with future research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Safety and Beneficial Microorganisms in Foods)
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