Unsafe food causes more than 200 diseases and therefore poses a threat to the health of millions of people worldwide. Children under 5 years of age carry about 40% of the foodborne disease burden. With a rapidly growing world population, the supply of nutritious, safe, and healthy food represents a high challenge for the coming centuries. Photodynamic decontamination of food (PDc) is based on the photosensitizer (PS)-mediated and light-induced overproduction of reactive oxygen species, which kill microorganisms irrespective of their resistance to conventional treatment. Several natural substances approved as food additives such as curcumin or chlorophyllin are photoactive. Thus, PDc based on these compounds is a promising approach to improve food safety.In this chapter, two experimental protocols to investigate the antimicrobial efficacy of PDc on flat objects like lettuce or slices of cucumber or round objects like mung beans in situ are described in detail, which allow for quantitative analysis of the decontamination effect. Both methods are also applicable for other radiation-based decontamination, such as UV- or γ-treatment of food.
Keywords: Decontamination efficiency; Food safety; Natural substances; Photoantimicrobials; Photodynamic therapy.
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