Natural Preservatives from Plant in Cheese Making

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Cheese is a food that is susceptible to contamination by pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, which can result in a reduced cheese shelf life, as well as in risks to the consumers’ health. This implies the possible use of preservatives in the cheese making process. At the same time, consumers are increasingly demanding for healthy food, free from synthetic preservatives. Just for this reason, natural ingredients are receiving increasing attention as substitutes for synthetic additives, also because they have bioactive compounds, which might provide health benefits in the prevention of several diseases. Furthermore, most of natural ingredients have shown antimicrobial activity, which could delay or inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms in food, as well as minimize the incidence of foodborne diseases caused by food spoilage bacteria and fungi. This review aims at discussing the antimicrobial activity of the main natural ingredients derived from plants and used in cheese making, and their effect on cheese quality, in terms of chemical, nutritional and sensory characteristics of the products, as well as the increase in cheese shelf-life. ABSTRACT: Today, consumers are increasingly demanding safety alternatives concerning the use of synthetic additives in the food industry, as well as healthy food. As a result, a major number of plant-derived preservatives have been tested in the food industry. These natural ingredients have antioxidant properties and have shown to increase the bioactive molecules levels and the microbiological stability of the food items. The effect of the plant-based preservatives on the sensorial properties of the new products has also to be considered, because natural preservatives could result in sensorial characteristics that may not be accepted by the consumers. Cheese is a dairy product widely appreciated all over the world, but it is also susceptible to contamination by pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms; therefore, the use of preservatives in cheese making represents an important step. This review deals with one of the innovation in the cheese sector, which is the addition of natural preservatives. Several aspects are discussed, such as the effect of natural ingredients on the microbial stability of cheese, and their influence on the chemical, nutritional and sensorial characteristics of the cheeses. Although the promising results, further studies are needed to confirm the use of natural preservatives from plants in cheese making.