Alternative food safety strategies created

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have combined a need for food safety and a demand for organic food products in developing new strategies for preventing food spoilage.

Rutgers University scientists said they used natural anti-microbial agents derived from sources such as cloves, oregano, thyme and paprika to create novel biodegradable polymers that can potentially block the formation of bacterial biofilms on food surfaces and packaging.

"We mated natural substances with controlled-release, biodegradable polymers that could inhibit or prevent the formation of bacterial biofilms," explained Ashley Carbone, a graduate student who constructed the polymer compounds that were tested.

Professor Kathryn Uhrich, who led the study, said the approach offers a number of advantages.

"The natural substances we chose have general anti-microbial activities against many different kinds of microorganisms," Uhrich said. "Therefore, the polymers into which we incorporated these natural substances have the potential to affect a much broader spectrum of micro-organisms than organism-specific drugs."

The findings were presented Wednesday in Boston during the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.