Strategies for controlling biofilm formation in food industry

Foodborne pathogen poses a threat to the food industries as many outbreaks have been found to be associated with biofilm formation. The formation of biofilm is a self-protection growth pattern of bacteria, which increases post-processing contamination and risk to public health. It is difficult to eliminate the biofilm in the food industries, since the biofilm cells have a barrier preventing or lessening the contact with environmental stresses, antimicrobial agents and the host immune system. Bacterial biofilm formation is a complex process, including initial attachment stage, irreversible attachment stage, biofilm development stage, biofilm maturation stage, and biofilm dispersion stage. The genetic mechanism, substratum and bacterial cell surface properties involve in the biofilm formation. The biofilm inhibition methods studied are physical treatment, chemical and biochemical treatment. The potential green and safe biochemical method attracts more attention, especially, the novel strategies using the safe biochemical agents (essential oils, enzymes, biosurfactants, others) constantly emerged. The review emphasized on effective strategies for inhibiting biofilm formation in different stages (initial irreversible attachment, formation, and maturation) by use of biochemical agents, aiming to provide new insight into biofilm control in food industry thus improving food quality and safety.