Study On Foodborne Pathogens Activity Of Potassium Sorbate

Despite the rapid development of modern improvements in food production and preservation techniques, food contamination caused by microorganisms remains a significant public health concern for consumers worldwide. The survival of microorganisms in food can lead to spoilage or cause infection and illness. Bacteria are among the most troublesome and important biological foodborne hazards for the food industry, causing approximately 4 to 6 million deaths per year, even in developed countries. The rapid development of antimicrobial drug-resistant pathogens and their worldwide spread are among the most serious threats to public health and successful antibacterial treatment. Based on this serious phenomenon and the resistance problem, we must explore novel approaches to address drug-resistant food-related microorganism infection. Combination is one approach that can be used to improve the efficacy of antimicrobial preservatives.Potassium sorbate has been widely used as preservatives in all foods for several decades. This study assessed the occurrence of an enhancing inhibitory effect of the combined application of potassium sorbate and some other antibacterial agent against four food-related microorganisms and forty food-borne isolates of the four foodrelated microorganisms using the determination of the Fractional Inhibitory Concentration(FIC) index(FICI) and a time-kill assay. Synergism was observed in Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 14028 under the addition of potassium sorbate and caprylic acid with FICI values ranging from 0.125 to 0.375. Synergism was observed in Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 under the addition of potassium sorbate and perilla oil.Furthermore, the mechanisms of the antimicrobial action of CA and PS in combination against the tested organisms were studied by scanning electron microscopy observations of the cells and measurement of the release of cell constituents. The electron micrographs of damaged cells and the significant increase in cell constituent release demonstrated that the combination of potassium sorbate and caprylic acid affected the cell membrane integrity. Our discovery of the efficacy of combining potassium sorbate with caprylic acid and perilla oil could be used in food preservation to solve the spoilage problem in the food industry and provide an alternative approach to overcome antimicrobial drug resistance.