Preservative and antitoxigenic activities of phenolic compounds: Usefulness in prevention of microbial spoilage and toxin contamination of food products

Abstract

Foods can be colonized by a myriad of microorganisms including bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi. Some microbes play important roles in the food industry because they confer important properties to the edible products. However, other ones reduce food quality mainly by contamination with toxins harmful for human health and generate great economical losses per year. Current food preservatives and microbial biocides commercially available are not efficient enough to deal with the noxious microflora and sometimes offer also disadvantages such as pollution or alteration of food properties. Phenolic compounds from plant sources can help to overcome this problem. Plant derived products such as fruits, vegetables, flowers and beverages contain a high concentration of phenolic compounds. Several of these substances are antimicrobials and their presence in foods have a positive impact on human health because of their anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, and antiarthritic activities. In this chapter, we present updated findings that indicate the use of phenolic compounds of different plant sources to prevent microbial and toxin contamination in several food products. The advantages and challenges in the usefulness of these substances as biocides, biostatics and antitoxigenic agents are also discussed.