Tag: Microbial studies

Microbes are part of the food we eat and they can affect our local microflora and health. Nevertheless, we have rather limited knowledge about which microbes are found in our food or in the processing environment. The results of a recent study in which Matís was involved sheds light on this, and the results of the study will help us to better understand the effect of microbes on various properties of food, for example shelf life, food safety, quality and taste.

The study was part of the European project MASTER, which involved 29 partners in 14 countries. The project involved creating a dedicated database of "food microbes" by sequencing the entire genome of 2,533 samples obtained from different foods and their processing environments. Matís was in charge of research on samples from Icelandic fish processing plants, but the research project covered all major food groups. This is the largest study ever conducted on the microbial composition in food and the processing environment, but an increased understanding of these microbes could contribute to improving people's health, as some of the microbes we ingest can become permanent in our own microflora.

A total of 10,899 food-related microbes were analyzed, half of which were previously unknown species, and the results showed that, on average, food-related microbes were about 3% of the intestinal flora of adults and 56% of the intestinal flora of infants.

"These results suggest that some of the microbes in our gut may be derived directly from food, or that historically humans have obtained these microbes from food and then they have adapted and become part of the human microflora," says microbiologist Nicola Segata at the University of Trento and the European Cancer Institute in Milan. Although these 3% may seem like a low percentage, these microbes can still make a big difference to the functioning of the entire intestinal flora. The database is therefore an important contribution to science and public health, as it will be used in research on the effects of microorganisms that come from food and their effects on our health.

Although many overt pathogenic microorganisms were not identified in the food samples, there were several microbial species that could be undesirable due to their effects on the taste or shelf life of foods. Knowing which microbes belong to certain types of food could therefore benefit producers, large and small, in producing better products. This information can also help food inspectors define which microorganisms should and should not be in certain types of food and to identify and certify the origin of certain foods.

The results of the study were published last August 29 in the magazine Cell Press and the database is now accessible. The seafood-only findings have also been published in the Cell Press journal Heliyon. As mentioned above, the research is part of the European research project MASTER and was funded by Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Research Council, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Science Foundation of Ireland and the Irish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.