Rutgers Scientists Preserve and Protect Foods Naturally

Two items high on the list of public concerns are the need for greater food safety and a growing demand for natural or organic food products. Understanding this, chemists and food scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, joined forces to develop natural approaches to the prevention of food contamination and spoilage.

The researchers employed natural antimicrobial agents derived from sources such as cloves, oregano, thyme and paprika to create novel biodegradable polymers or plastics to potentially block the formation of bacterial biofilms on food surfaces and packaging.

 “We mated natural substances with controlled-release, biodegradable polymers that could inhibit or prevent the formation of bacterial biofilms,” explained Ashley Carbone, a graduate student at Rutgers who constructed the polymer compounds that were tested.

“The natural substances we chose have general antimicrobial activities against many different kinds of microorganisms,” Uhrich said. “Therefore, the polymers into which we incorporated these natural substances have the potential to affect a much broader spectrum of microorganisms than organism-specific drugs,” Uhrich said.

Another advantage comes out of the Rutgers researchers’ decision to focus on the biofilms, rather than attempting to attack the individual bacteria. This avoids the potential of increasing the antimicrobial resistance of specific bacteria, an emerging problem in medical circles brought on by the overprescription of antibiotics.

 “As they degrade in the presence of water and/or enzymes, they slowly release their active antimicrobials,” Carbone said. “A slow and controlled release of the food-based antimicrobial would offer great advantages in the food industry, providing protection over an extended time and extending the shelf-life of the food product.”

The retail marketing sector may benefit from the Rutgers innovation. With the growing consumer interest in natural foods, shoppers may be more attracted to products containing natural antimicrobial ingredients rather than the synthetic chemical additives currently in use to protect against contamination and spoilage.