Preventing Foodborne Pathogens With Plant-Derived Compounds with Karl Matthews

About this episode

Karl Matthews discusses methods to eliminate foodborne pathogens from fresh produce using plant-derived compounds.

Karl Matthews, Ph.D., Professor of Microbial Food Safety at Rutgers University, discusses ways to eliminate pathogens like Salmonella , E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria from fresh fruits and vegetables. He highlights the importance of preventative measures from farm to table, including the use of water antimicrobials, like chlorine, and photosensitizers, like curcumin. Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/6Wkef9RyUVE Ashley's Biggest Takeaways We consume billions of microorganisms in the food that we eat each day. Fresh fruits and vegetables that are not thermally processed are likely to carry a higher microbial load than cooked foods. Many of those microbes are not concerning to human health. However, when pathogens of human health concern are present, the food can become unsafe to eat. Scientists use many methods from pre-harvest through post-harvest to keep food free of human pathogens. Water antimicrobials, such as chlorine, and photodynamic inactivation using photosensitizers, such as curcumin, are 2 preventative measures that Matthews and colleagues are investigating. Curcumin is a natural chemical compound found in the turmeric plant. It is responsible for giving tumeric its…

People in this episode

Host: Ashley

Guest: Karl Matthews

Topics covered

• food safety
• microbiology
• plant-derived compounds
• pathogen prevention

Keywords

• Salmonella
• E. coli
• Listeria
• curcumin
• chlorine
• water antimicrobials

Mentioned in this episode

Products: curcumin, chlorine

Places: the United States, U.S.

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