Recent advances in anti-adhesion mechanism of natural antimicrobial agents on fresh produce

Bacterial adhesion is the first stage of biofilm formation. Adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation of foodborne pathogenic bacteria on food surface cause cross contamination, food spoilage and even diseases. Mature biofilm exhibits higher resistance to disinfectants or antimicrobials compared to initial biofilm. The initial adherent cells are very unstable, low resistant and can be easily eliminated from food surface. In recent years, plant extracts as green antimicrobials alternatives have drawn much attention of researchers in anti-adhesion. Furthermore, the combination of natural extracts with other agents (e.g. surfactant, nanoparticle, phage) at low concentration effectively restrain the adhesion of foodborne pathogenic bacteria. Understanding anti-adhesion mechanism is the key to increase the efficiency of natural antimicrobial agents and enhance their application in fresh produce industry. In this review, we summarized recent studies about the factors affecting bacterial adhesion, anti-adhesion mechanism and applications of natural antimicrobial agents to control adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation for enhancing food safety and food quality.