Modelling Microorganisms in Food (Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition) - Hardcover

S. Brul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845690060 ISBN 13: 9781845690069

Publisher: Woodhead Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

While predictive microbiology has made a major contribution to food safety, there remain many uncertainties, e.g. growing evidence that traditional microbial inactivation models do not always fit the experimental data and an awareness that bacteria of one population do not behave homogeneously, that they may interact and behave differently in different food systems. These problems are all the more important because of the growing interest in minimal processing techniques that operate closer to death, survival and growth boundaries and thus require a greater precision from models. Edited by leading authorities, this collection reviews current developments in quantitative microbiology. Part 1 discusses best practice in constructing quantitative models and Part 2 looks at specific areas in new approaches to modelling microbial behaviour.

Key Features: assesses the latest developments in microbial modelling; discusses the issues involved in building models of microbial growth; chapters review the use of quantitative microbiology tools in predictive microbiology; looks at new approaches to microbial modelling behaviour; written by a team of leading experts.

Contents: Part 1 Building models for predictive microbiology: Predictive microbiology: past, present and future; Experimental design, data processing and model fitting in predictive microbiology; Uncertainty and variability in predictive models of microorganisms in food; Modelling lag-time in predictive microbiology with special reference to the lag phase of bacterial spores; Application of models and other quantitative microbiology tools in predictive microbiology; Predictive models in food risk assessment. Part 2 New approaches to microbial modelling in specific areas of predictive microbiology: The non-linear kinetics of microbial inactivation and growth in foods; Modelling of high pressure inactivation of microorganisms in foods; Mechanistic models of microbial inactivation behaviour in foods; Modelling microbial interactions in foods; A kinetic model as a tool to understand the response of saccharomyces cerevisiae to heat exposure; Systems biology and food science.

About this title

About the Author

Professor Stanley Brul is Head of the Molecular Biology Department at the Institute for Life Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and Senior Scientist at the Unilever Food and Health Research Institute, The Netherlands.

Dr Suzanne van Gerwen works for Unilever Foods in The Netherlands.

Professor Marcel Zwietering teaches Food Microbiology at the highly regarded University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.

From the Back Cover

Predicting the growth and behaviour of microorganisms in food has long been an aim in food microbiology research. In recent years, microbial models have evolved to become more exact and the discipline of quantitative microbial ecology has gained increasing importance for food safety management, particularly as minimal processing techniques have become more widely used. These processing methods operate closer to microbial death, survival and growth boundaries and therefore require even more precise models. Written by a team of leading experts in the field, Modelling microorganims in food assesses the latest developments and provides an outlook for the future of microbial modelling.

Part one discusses general issues involved in building models of microbial growth and inactivation in foods, with chapters on the historical background of the field, experimental design, data processing and model fitting, the problem of uncertainty and variability in models and modelling lag-time. Further chapters review the use of quantitative microbiology tools in predictive microbiology and the use of predictive microbiology in risk assessment.

The second part of the book focuses on new approaches in specific areas of microbial modelling, with chapters discussing the implications of microbial variability in predictive modelling and the importance of taking into account microbial interactions in foods. Predicting microbial inactivation under high pressure and the use of mechanistic models are also covered. The final chapters outline the possibility of incorporating systems biology approaches into food microbiology.

Modelling microorganisms in food will be a standard reference for all those in the field of food microbiology.

Edition details

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1845690060
• ISBN 13: 9781845690069
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: S. Brul, S Van Gerwen, Marcel H. Zwietering