Photodynamic inactivation and its application in food preservation

Food incidents caused by various foodborne pathogenic bacteria are posing a major threat to human health. The traditional thermal and chemical-based procedures applied for microbial control in the food industry cause adverse effects on food quality and bacterial resistance. As a new means of innovative sterilization technology, photodynamic inactivation (PDI) has gained significant attention due to excellent sterilization effect, environmental friendliness, safety, and low cost. This review analyses new developments in recent years for PDI systems applied to the food preservation. The fundamentals of photosensitization mechanism, the development of photosensitizers and light source selection are discussed. The application of PDI in food preservation are presented, with the main emphasis on the natural photosensitizers and its application to inactivate in vitro and in vivo microorganisms in food matrixes such as fresh vegetable, fruits, seafood, and poultry. The challenges and future research directions facing the application of this technology to food systems have been proposed. This review will provide reference for combating microbial contamination in food industry.