Food spoilage by pseudomonas spp.-An overview

Abstract

Food spoilage is a serious global problem, especially in developing countries, because of inadequate processing and refrigeration facilities. This chapter reviews food spoilage by Pseudomonas spp. in specific food groups such as milk and dairy products, meat, fish, water, fruit, and vegetables and discusses the detection and confirmation techniques including biochemical and molecular methods. Contamination by Pseudomonas spp. plays an important role in milk spoilage because Pseudomonas spp. produce many thermo-tolerant lipolytic and proteolytic enzymes, which reduce both the quality and shelf life of processed milk. Pseudomonas spoils a wide range of foodstuff, and meat is no exception. Pseudomonas spp. do not constitute a serious risk to public health. However, the most pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa belongs to risk group II and is an opportunistic pathogen and one of the main bacteria that cause nosocomial infections in hospitals that affects immunocompromised persons.