First evaluation of alkylpyrazine application as a novel method to decrease microbial contaminations in processed meat products

Abstract

Every year about 20% of the globally produced meat gets lost due to microbial spoilage. Nevertheless, the demand for processed meat is constantly rising and producers are searching for novel strategies to reduce microbial contaminations in their products. In the present study, we evaluated the applicability of alkylpyrazines as antimicrobial agents. These fragrant molecules naturally occur in different vegetables, fruits, roasted nut and meat. Several pyrazine derivatives are readily added to processed products for flavoring purposes in the food industry. To evaluate their potential for application, two derivatives were tested for their antimicrobial activity against meat-associated bacterial contaminants and chicken meat as a whole. Isolates assigned to Carnobacteriaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Listeriaceae, and Moraxellaceae were substantially inhibited in the pilot tests. Moreover, treatments of pyrazine-susceptible isolates resulted in 4-log reductions in bacterial cell counts. The effect was more pronounced when the model contaminants were exposed to higher concentrations of 5-isobutyl-2,3-dimethylpyrazine. In a first small-scale application with processed chicken meat, it was demonstrated that the antimicrobial effects of 2-isobutyl-3-methylpyrazine can be improved by additionally lowering the water activity on the meat surface when maltodextrin is used as a carrier substance. At low pyrazine dosages, the number of viable bacteria was decreased up to 95% in comparison to the corresponding controls. A complementary imaging method that was developed to assess the efficacy on the product, reinforced the applicability of this two-component system.

Volatile Organic Compounds From Lysobacter capsici AZ78 as Potential Candidates for Biological Control of Soilborne Plant Pathogens

“…Overall, the present study sheds light on the AZ78 ability to inhibit in vitro the growth of soilborne plant pathogenic microorganisms through the emission of a VOC blend, where pyrazines are the most represented class of VOCs. As alkylated pyrazines have been applied in the food industry as disinfectants (Kusstatscher et al, 2017;Schöck et al, 2018) and, additionally, pyrazine derivatives are recognized as safe for human/animal consumption and the environment (Rychen et al, 2017), we feel that our results may support the possible development of selected pyrazines as active ingredients of novel biofumigants against soilborne plant pathogenic microorganisms. Our results suggest that additional compounds and/or factors are involved in the growth inhibition observed in the split Petri dish assays, most probably associated with compounds that cannot easily be measured by the presented DHS-TD-GC-MS approach.…”

Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, and Antibacterial Potentials and Chemical Composition of Salvia officinalis and Mentha suaveolens Grown Wild in Morocco

“…Similarly, pyrazines are well-known as volatile organic compounds with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity mediated by their diffusion into various bacterial structures and result in cell envelope disintegration and DNA destructing in susceptible bacteria [ 41 ]. Additionally, due to their high efficacy in combating MDR-bacterial pathogens at lower concentrations and minimal mammalian toxicity, pyrazines are prone to be applied in various aspects of food industry to prevent microbial spoilage and contaminations [ 41 – 44 ]. Some recent studies have also explored the unique bactericidal mechanism for each of 3-carene [ 45 ] and 1-octen-3-ol [ 46 ] by disintegrating cell membranes integrity and metabolic functionality of food- and nonfood-related virulent pathogenic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.…”

Antimicrobial and Odour Qualities of Alkylpyrazines Occurring in Chocolate and Cocoa Products

“…Pyrazines have been given GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) for use as flavouring additives in food [43,44]; they are as well included in the European Union's list of authorized flavouring agents [18], demonstrating that this class of chemicals is a secure substitute for managing and combating microbial contamination. Moreover, around 700 kg of alkylpyrazines are used as flavouring agents annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated average intake of about 37 mg/kg per person [40].…”