Spoilage of Cereals, Flour Dough and Bakery Products

Wheat, Rye ,Corn and related products: Soil microflora and

Storage environment
Low Aw; Practically no growth of Mos
When conditions favour (Increased humidity): Growth of
Bacillus spp. and Molds
Some aerobic sporeformers produce amylase which help
them utilize flour and grow
Rhizopus spp are quite common and recognized by their
black spores
Dough products (biscuits, dinner rolls, Pizza dough):
Spoilage by Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)
More than 50% Lactobacilli; 36% Leuconostoc spp; 3%
Streptococcus
 Spoilage of Bakery Products
 Lack sufficient moisture to allow growth of any organism except molds
 Bread Mold: Rhizopus stolonifer (R. nigricans) –white cottony
 Green spored: Penicillium expansum
 Aspergillus niger: Greenish or purpulish brown conidia
 Species of Mucor or Geotrichum
 Red or Bloody bread mold : Monilia (Neurospora) sitophila
 Ropiness of bread: Bacillus subtilis ( Bacillus mesentericus): stringiness
(Result of capsulation of the bacillus, together with hydrolysis of flour
proteins (gluten) by proteinases of the organism and starch by amylases
 Cakes rarely undergo bacterial spoilage due to their high conc of sugars
 However most common form of spoilage is due to molds
 Fruit cakes; Contamination due to Nuts and fruits and also because of
high moisture
 Causes and Prevention

Causes
• Heavy contamination after baking
• Slicing & Wrapping, especially when bread is wrapped when still warm
• Storage in a warm and humid place
• Molding often begins within a loaf of sliced bread where more moisture is
available on the surface
Prevention:
• Prevention of contamination with mold spores as far as practicable
• Prompt and adequate cooling before wrapping
• UV irradiation of the surface of loaf and of slicing knives
• Keeping the bread cool to slow mold growth
• Wrapping in a fungicide/ mycostatic coated wrapper
• Incorporation in the bread dough of some mycostatic chemical
Sodium/potassium/ calcium propionate @ 0.1-0.3%; Sorbic acid upto 0.1%
 Spoilage of Vegetables & Fruits
• a. Physical factors
• b. Action of their own enzymes
• c. Microbial action
• d. Mechanical damage: Animals, birds or insects or Bruising,
wounding, bursting cutting, mishandling etc.
• Improper environmental conditions during harvesting
• If the desired state of maturity is greatly exceeded, the food may
be considered inedible or even spoiled e.g. overripe banana with
black skin and mushy interior
• The disease caused by plant pathogens and decomposition caused
by saprophytic organisms
• Non pathogenic diseases: e.g., Brown heart of apple and pears,
black heart of potatoes, black-leaf speck of cabbage and red heart
of cabbage
 General types of Microbial Spoilage

• Although each type of fruit or vegetable has certain types of decomposition

and kinds of microorganisms predominant in its spoilage, but common
types of spoilage are:
a) Bacterial soft rot: Erwinia carotovora (fermenters of pectins)
Pseudomonas marginalis, Clostridium and Bacillus spp.
Result in water-soaked appearance, a soft, mushy consistency and often a
bad odor
b) Grey mold rot: Botrytis spp. (form grey mycelium)
c) Rhizopus soft rot: Rhizopus stolonifer, cottony growth: Soft and mushy
d) Alternaria rot: Alternaria tenius: greenish brown to brown or black spots
e) Blue mold rot: Penicillium digitatum
f) Downy mildew: Phytophthora, Bremia and other genera : Mold grows as
white, woolly masses
g) Black mold rot: Aspergillus niger (dark brown to black masses)
h) Pink mold rot: Trichothecium roseum
 Spoilage of Fruit and Vegetable Juices
• Juices squeezed or extracted from fruits are more or less acidic
• pH range: 2.4 for lemon or cranberry upto 4.2 for tomato juice and all contain
sugas (2% in lemon juice upto 17% in some samples of grape juice
• Moldds grow and spoil these juicesif exposed to air, high moisture content
favours the faster growth of yeasts
• Removal of solids from the juices by extraction and sieving raises the
oxidation-reduction potential and favours growth of yeasts
• Thus juices are a very favourable medium for the growth of yeasts within the
range of temperature that favours them(15-35C)
• Alcoholic Fermentation followed by oxidation of alcohol and fruit acids by
film yeasts or molds growing on the surface or oxidation of the alcohol to
acetic acid.
• At temperatures above 32-35C lactobacilli would be likely to grow and form
lactic acid and some volatile acids because these temperatures are too high for
most yeasts
• In addition to usual alcoholic fermentation, Leuconostoc mesenteroides may
also grow
 Spoilage of Fruit and Vegetable Juices…….

 Vegetable juices contain sugars but are less acidic than fruit juices
 pH values 5.0 – 5.8 (generally)
 Contain plentiful of accessory growth factors for microorganisms and
hence support growth of fastidious lactic acid bacteria\Therefire acid
fermentation by LAB is the likely cause of spoilage of these juice besides
yeasts and molds

Concentrates of Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Due to increased acidity and sugar concentration, favour the growth of yeasts
and of sugar and acid tolerant Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus spp.
But generally canned, heat processed and frozen, therefore, less likelihood of
spoilage
 Spoilage of Meats

Growth of Microorganisms in Meat

Meat is an ideal medium for the growth of many organisms: High in moisture
content, rich in nitrogenous compounds, plenty of minerals and vitamins and
accessory growth factors, some fermentable carbohydrate (glycogen) and very
favourable pH
Factors that influence the growth;
a) Kind and amount of contamination
b) Physical properties of meat
c) Chemical properties of meat
d) Availability of oxygen
e) Temperature
At ordinary atmospheric temperatures, mesophiles would grow e.g., Coliform
bacteria and species of Bacillus and Clostridium
 General Types of Spoilage of Meats

Spoilage under Aerobic Conditions:

a) Surface slime: Caused by species of Pseudomonas, acinetobacter,
Moraxella, Alcaligenes, streptococcus, Leuconostoc, bacillus and
Micrococcus. Some species of Lactobacillus also produce slime
b) Change in colour of meat pigments: red colour of meat may change to
shades of green, brown or grey due to production of oxidizing compounds
e.g. peroxides, or of hydrogen sulphide by bacteria
 Hetero-fermentative Lactobacillus spp. And Leuconostoc spp. Cause the
greening of sausages
c) Surface discolorations due to pigmented bacteria
 Red spots: Serratia marcescens or other bacteria with red pigments
 Blue discoloration: Pseudomonas syncyanea
 Yellow discolorations: Species of Micrococcus, Flavobacterium,
Chromobacterium
d) Off odours and off tastes; Due to growth of bacteria on the surface
e) Souring: due to production of volatile acids
 General Types of Spoilage of Meats…….

• Under aerobic conditions Yeasts may grow on the surface of meats, causing
sliminess, lipolysis, off odours and tastes and discolorations- white, cream, pink or
brown
• Aerobic growth of Molds may cause:
• Stickiness: Incipient growth of molds makes surface sticky to touch
• Whiskers; Meat stored at temp near freezing leads to mold mycelial growth without
sporulation: white fuzzy growth due to Thamnidium, Mucor, Rhizopus spp.
• Black spot Cladosporium herbarum
• White spot: Sporotrichum
• Green patches: Penicillium spp.

Spoilage under Anaerobic Conditions

Facultative and anaerobic bacteria: souring, putrefaction and taint
• Putrefaction: Anaerobic decomposition of protein with the production of foul
smelling compounds such as hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans, indole, ammonia and
amines: Caused by species of Clostridium
• Taint: Off taste or off odour
 Spoilage of Heated Canned Foods

a. Chemical spoilage
b. Biological spoilage
 Hydrogen swell: A chemical spoilage resulting from the pressure of hydrogen
gas released by the action of the acid of a food on the iron of the can.
-Increasing acidities of the foods
-Increasing temperatures of storage
-Imperfections in the tinning and lacquering of the interior of the can
-A poor exhaust
-The presence of soluble sulphur and phosphorus compounds
Other defects caused by interaction between the steel base of the can and
contained food are:
-Discoloration of the inside of the can
-Discoloration of the food
-Production of off-flavours in the food
-Cloudiness of liquors or syrups
-Corrosion or perforation of the metal
-Loss on nutritive value
 Spoilage of Heated Canned Foods……

• Biological spoilage: results from

• a. Survival of microorganisms after the administration of the heat treatment
• b. Leakage of the container after the heat process, permitting the entrance
of microorganisms
• Only survivors in the heat treated foods are spores of bacteria, which
cannot grow in very acid foods

-Leakage of cans may cause a loss in can vacuum, thus encouraging chemical
and microbial deterioration of the food
-Presence of organisms of low heat resistance, and especially many species
indicate leakage

Grouping of Foods on the basis of Acidity

a. Low acid Foods: pH above 4.5
b. High acid Foods: pH blow 4.5
 Spoilage of Heated Canned Foods……

Types of Biological Spoilage of Canned Foods

a. Spoilage by Thermophilic Spore-forming Bacteria

 Flat Sour Spoilage: Ends of the Can of food remains flat during souring
( development of lactic acid) by the flat sour bacteria
 Cannot be detected by examination of the unopened can but detected by
cultural methods
 Occurs chiefly in low acid foods e.g. peas and corns
 Caused by species of Bacillus
 In acid foods e.g. Tomatoes or tomato juice: B. coagulans (can grow under
low concentrations of oxygen
 These are mesophiles or thermophiles
 Spoilage of Heated Canned Foods……

a. T A (thermophilic anaerobe) Spoilage- not producing hydrogen

sulphide
Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum
Thermophilic spore-forming anaerobe that forms acid and gas in foods
Gas is a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, swells the can if held
long enough at a high temperature and may eventually burst
Spoiled food usually has a sour or cheesy odor

b. Sulfide or Sulfur Stinker spoilage

Caused by Desulfotomaculum nirificans: Less heat resistant than the TA
bacteria (spoilage, therefore, indicates gross under processing

This organism is obligate thermophile-forms black (FeS) colonies on iron

sulphite agar at 55C

-Hydrogen sulphide formed in canned peas or corn is evident by its odor

when can is opened
 Spoilage of Heated Canned Foods……

 Spoilage by mesophilic Clostridium species

Clostridium butyricum and C. Pasteurianum

Cause butyric acid type of fermentation in acid or medium acid foods
Swelling of the container by the carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas.

C sporogenes, C. putrefaciens and C. botulinum are proteolytic or putrefactive, decomposing

protein with the production of compounds such as hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans, ammonia,
indole etc.

 Spoilage by Yeasts
Due to gross under processing or leakage
Canned fruits, jams, jellies, syrups and SCM
Spoiled by fermentative yeasts and swelling du to production of Carbon-dioxide
Film yeasts may grow on pickles

 Spoilage by Molds
Strains of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Citromyces