Metabolomics findings associated with the effects of decontamination approaches on foodborne pathogens; a state-of-the-art review

Abstract

Metabolites produced by foodborne pathogens (FBPs) not only determine the microbial quality of the contaminated foods but also have undeniable effects on dysbiosis of the gut microbiota and subsequent consumers’ health. Accordingly, investigation of microbial metabolites derived from FBPs has received considerable attention even for the dead cells. Recently, online detection and rapid differentiation of FBPs, determination of biomarker metabolites and their fingerprinting in FBPs, discrimination of toxin-producing strains and antimicrobial resistance profile/mechanisms has been studied thanks to the advancement in metabolomics analyses. Recently, some of the most important fungi, Gram-positive and Gran-negative foodborne bacteria have been studied using different chromatography- and/or spectroscopy-based instrumental analyses in combination with proper data mining algorithms using metabolomics approaches. The aim of the present review is highlighting the effects of inhibitory compounds/approaches including organic acids, essential oils, herbal extracts, microbial-derived inhibitory compounds, other biological controls, synthetic preservatives, non-thermal processing and their combination on metabolite profiles/metabolic pathways of FBPs. Moreover, promising action modes of these inhibitory components/methods like destruction of the cell membrane, reduction of biofilm formation, suppression of the efflux system, quorum sensing inhibition, and up/down-regulation of the involved metabolic pathways have also been discussed to find proper adjuvant therapy/efficient hurdles for antimicrobial-resistant FBPs and their response/adaptation biomarkers to environmental stresses.

Keywords

• Foodborne pathogens
• Metabolomics
• Metabolic pathways
• Inhibitory mechanisms
• Metabolite profiles