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Predictive Microbiology
Predictive Microbiology is the area of food microbiology where controlling factors in foods and responses of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms are quantified and modelled by mathematical equations It is based on the thesis that microorganisms' growth and environment are reproducible, and can be modeled. Temperature, pH and water activity impact bacterial behavior. These factors can be changed to control food spoilage Food spoilage is the process where a food product becomes unsuitable to ingest by the consumer. The cause of such a process is due to many outside factors as a side-effect of the type of product it is, as well as how the product is packaged and s .... Models can be used to predict pathogen growth in foods. Models are developed in several steps including design, development, validation, and production of an interface to display results. Models can be classified attending to their objective in primary models (describing bacterial growth), secondary models (des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied on various reference points and thermometric substances for definition. The most common scales are the Celsius scale with the unit symbol °C (formerly called ''centigrade''), the Fahrenheit scale (°F), and the Kelvin scale (K), the latter being used predominantly for scientific purposes. The kelvin is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units (SI). Absolute zero, i.e., zero kelvin or −273.15 °C, is the lowest point in the thermodynamic temperature scale. Experimentally, it can be approached very closely but not actually reached, as recognized in the third law of thermodynamics. It would be impossible to extract energy as heat from a body at that temperature. Temperature is important in all fields of natur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Activity
Water activity (''aw'') is the partial vapor pressure of water in a solution divided by the standard state partial vapor pressure of water. In the field of food science, the standard state is most often defined as pure water at the same temperature. Using this particular definition, pure distilled water has a water activity of exactly one. Water activity is the thermodynamic activity of water as solvent and the relative humidity of the surrounding air after equilibration. As temperature increases, ''aw'' typically increases, except in some products with crystalline salt or sugar. Water migrates from areas of high ''aw'' to areas of low ''aw''. For example, if honey (''aw'' ≈ 0.6) is exposed to humid air (''aw'' ≈ 0.7), the honey absorbs water from the air. If salami (''aw'' ≈ 0.87) is exposed to dry air (''aw'' ≈ 0.5), the salami dries out, which could preserve it or spoil it. Lower ''aw'' substances tend to support fewer microorganisms since these get desiccated by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food Spoilage
Food spoilage is the process where a food product becomes unsuitable to ingest by the consumer. The cause of such a process is due to many outside factors as a side-effect of the type of product it is, as well as how the product is packaged and stored. Due to food spoilage, one-third of the world's food produced for the consumption of humans is lost every year. Bacteria and various fungi are the cause of spoilage and can create serious consequences for the consumers, but there are preventive measures that can be taken. Bacteria Bacteria are responsible for some of the spoilage of food. When bacteria breaks down the food, acids and other waste products are generated in the process. While the bacteria itself may or may not be harmful, the waste products may be unpleasant to taste or may even be harmful to one's health. There are two types of pathogenic bacteria that target different categories of food. The first type is called ''Clostridium botulinum'' and targets food such as me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, protistology, mycology, immunology, and parasitology. Eukaryotic microorganisms possess membrane-bound organelles and include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryotic organisms—all of which are microorganisms—are conventionally classified as lacking membrane-bound organelles and include Bacteria and Archaea. Microbiologists traditionally relied on culture, staining, and microscopy. However, less than 1% of the microorganisms present in common environments can be cultured in isolation using current means. Microbiologists often rely on molecular biology tools such as DNA sequence based identification, for example the 16S rRNA gene sequence used for bacteria identification. Viruses have been variably classified as organisms, as they have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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