Abstract
Biofilms, present as microorganisms and surviving on surfaces, can increase food cross-contamination, leading to changes in the food industry’s cleaning and disinfection dynamics. Biofilm is an association of microorganisms that is irreversibly linked with a surface, contained in an extracellular polymeric substance matrix, which poses a formidable challenge for food industries. To avoid biofilms from forming, and to eliminate them from reversible attachment and irreversible stages, where attached microorganisms improve surface adhesion, a strong disinfectant is required to eliminate bacterial attachments. This review paper tackles biofilm problems from all perspectives, including biofilm-forming pathogens in the food industry, disinfectant resistance of biofilm, and identification methods. As biofilms are largely responsible for food spoilage and outbreaks, they are also considered responsible for damage to food processing equipment. Hence the need to gain good knowledge about all of the factors favouring their development or growth, such as the attachment surface, food matrix components, environmental conditions, the bacterial cells involved, and electrostatic charging of surfaces. Overall, this review study shows the real threat of biofilms in the food industry due to the resistance of disinfectants and the mechanisms developed for their survival, including the intercellular signalling system, the cyclic nucleotide second messenger, and biofilm-associated proteins.
Highlights
CBIOS (Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies), Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
This sessile life form has been followed as an excellent survival technique for microorganisms, given the protective barrier generated and physiological changes made by the biofilm matrix, while it fights against the adverse environmental circumstances faced typically by bacteria in man-made and natural settings, even in foodprocessing facilities [4,5]
Burton et al [172] compared the colorimetric assay with the spectrofluorometric assay, whose results revealed that wheat germ agglutinin-Alexa Fluor conjugate (WGA) staining may be a more specific means of E. coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm detection and quantification
Summary
The main objectivesof ofthis this review review were thethe most important biofilm examThe main objectives weretotoidentify identify most important biofilm examples in the food industry and to present methods to visualise in situ biofilm production, ples in the food industry and to present methods to visualise in situ biofilm production, how to avoid this production, and methods to remove biofilms. Modern food processing a suitable environment for biofilms to form on food bacteria may, bind lines to theare contact surfaces present in these areas, which could contribute to increase the risk of bacterial food-borne diseases. Mixed-species biofilm production is extremely dynamic and depends the attachroughness, and topography impact biofilm formation and, affect the overallon hygiene ment surface’s characteristics [22], food matrix components [23], environmental status of the surface [22,26]. The most popular food phobic surfaces tend to attract more bacteria, but studies that have tested the hydrophocontact material in the food industry is stainless steel type 304 because it is chemically inert, easy present to clean, and extremely corrosion-resistant at a range of processing temperatures. Similar species can impact one another in a mixed microbial community, which culminates in the co-colonisation of certain species
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