Food Microbiology & Toxicology

Food is actually considered to be a medium for microbial growth. Food microbiology is very important as it is the study of interactions between food, microorganisms and their environment both in food and used for the production of food to ensure the food safety, value, production, processing, preservation, and storage. This study enhances the preservation of Food and also prevents the Food production chain and also allows us to understand the factors influencing the growth of microorganisms in food systems & the means of controlling them.

Food Microbiology emphasis on;

understanding of the ecology for microbial spoilage and pathogenicity
predicting microbial growth and death with computer models
developing new detection methods
finding and using natural microbial inhibitors
understanding the genetic basis for pathogenicity
the reaction of microorganisms to new preservation methods

Food Microbiologists develop techniques & methods to detect pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in foods. They use various techniques like immunology, microbiology, and molecular biology to study macromolecules, manipulate biological processes, or make other biotechnological transformations.

Research under Food Microbiology includes;

Genetic control of microorganisms
Genetics and biochemistry of bacteriophage
Site-directed mutagenesis to improve catalytic functions of enzymes
Factors influencing the growth of pathogens in foods
Methods for detecting foodborne pathogens

Food Toxicology is the study of nature, properties, effects, and the detection of natural or synthetic poisons and toxicants in diverse food products that cause harmful, detrimental, or adverse side effects in living organisms. The research topics of Food Toxicology include;