Novel approaches for chemical and microbiological shelf life extension of cereal crops

Abstract

Economic losses due to post-harvest fungal spoilage and mycotoxin contamination of cereal crops is a frequently encountered issue. Typically, chemical preservatives are used to reduce the initial microbial load and the environmental conditions during storage are controlled to prevent microbial growth. However, in recent years the consumers’ desire for more naturally produced foods containing less chemical preservatives has grown increasingly stronger. This article reviews the latest advances in terms of novel approaches for chemical decontamination, namely application cold atmospheric pressure plasma and electrolyzed water, and their suitability for preservation of stored cereal crops. In addition, the alternative use of bio-preservatives, such as starter cultures or purified antimicrobial compounds, to prevent the growth of spoilage organisms or remove in-field accumulated mycotoxins is evaluated. All treatments assessed here show potential for inhibition of microbial spoilage. However, each method encounters draw-backs, making industrial application difficult. Even under optimized processing conditions, it is unlikely that one single treatment can reduce the natural microbial load sufficiently. It is evident that future research needs to examine the combined application of several treatments to exploit their synergistic properties. This would enable sufficient reduction in the microbial load and ensure microbiological safety of cereal crops during long-term storage.

Keywords:

• Cereal grains
• microbial shelf life
• mycotoxins
• bio-preservatives
• cold plasma
• electrolyzed water

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this research was awarded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013 through the research program FIRM/RSF/CoFoRD. This research was also partly funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.