MICRO

ORGANISMS AND
ENZYMES – FOOD
SPOIL AGE
BY JADE
MICRO ORGANISMS

• An organism that is microscopic

• Bacteria
• Fungi
• Virus
• Protozoa
• Used in food for the ‘fermentation’ process
• Beer
• Yogurt
• Wine
• Cheese
WHAT MICRO ORGANISMS IN FOOD
COULD MAKE IT UNSAFE TO EAT?
• Saprophytic
• Causes food spoilage
• Examples include
• Lactic acid formations
• Formed by natural fermentation
• Lipolysis
• Breakdown of lipids
WHAT CONDITIONS DO MICRO
ORGANISMS NEED TO LIVE AND MULTIPLY
• Grow best in foods that have a more acidic pH
• Grow well within the temperature range of 5°C or 57°C
• They need sufficient time to grow. With the right conditions they can double their population every 20 minutes
• Though not all micro organisms need oxygen, some do
• Micro organisms tend to grow best in moist climate
• Remember FAT TOM
• Food
• Acidic
• Temperature
• Time
• Oxygen
• Moist
ENZYMES

• Enzymes are biological catalysts that help speed up chemical reactions

• Usually work best in a more alkali pH but there are exception
• In your stomach
• Lock and key formation
HOW ENZYMES SPOIL THE PALATABILITY
OF FOOD AND HOW ENZYMES AFFECT
FOOD
• Air and oxygen
• Because most of the enzymes in food are oxidizing enzymes
• These specific enzymes speed up chemical reactions between the food and the oxygen
• Causes oxydization
• Cause ripening in foods
HOW MOLD’S AFFECT FOOD

• Mold exists in over 300,000 forms

• 25% of the worlds food has mold growing on it
• Not all mold makes you sick
• Penicillium roqueforti
• But a lot do
• Aflatoxin
• Ergot
• Mycotoxins
• If food has mold, don’t sniff it because it can enter the respiratory tract
HOW YEAST AFFECTS FOOD

• Belong to the fungus kingdom

• Estimated to constitute 1% of all fungal species
• Reproduce by mitosis
• Yeasts metabolize and produce metabolic end products
• The Zygosaccharomyces genus yeast is a spoilage yeast which can grow in foods with the
presence of high sucrose
• The most common spoiling yeast is Brettanomyces bruxellensis
• You can test for live yeast cells using Methylene blue
QUESTIONS FROM THE TEXTBOOK
(PAGE 161)
• 1.
• A.) State two types of micro organisms that can spoil foods
• Lipolysis and Lactic acid formation
• B.) Explain how micro organisms make food unsafe to eat
• They cause spoilage in food because of their waste products
• C.) State 3 conditions micro organisms need to grow and reproduce
• Acidic pH, temperature between 5 °C and 57 °C, and in some cases oxygen
• 2.
• A.) Explain what enzymes are and what they do
• They are biological catalysts that exist in all living things and help speed up chemical reactions
• B.)Explain how enzymes affect fruits and vegetables after they are harvested
• They cause food to ripen and get change textures, colors, tastes, and aromas
• 3. Explain what is meant by a high risk food and give examples
• Foods that are good places for bacteria to thrive and grow e.g. cheese, meat, yogurt etc.
QUESTIONS FROM THE TEXTBOOK
(PAGE 164)
• 1. Explain why it is important to do these things
• A.) When making fresh fruit salad, it is important to add some lemon juice to the fruit
• Enzymes brown fruits (e.g. apples) and they thrive best in alkili conditions so by making the condition more acidic you could denature the
enzymes.
• B.) When storing bread it is important to keep it in a cool dry storage area in a covered container.
• Micro organisms thrive best in moist conditions so by keeping it in a cool dry place, you keep moisture out. Keeping it in a covered container will
keep oxygen from getting to the bread, which some micro organisms need, so that will stop them from growing and reproducing
• C.) Why is it best practice to throw away cheese if the it becomes moldy during storage, rather then scrape of the mould and eat the remaining
cheese?
• Mold can grow more into food but you might not be able to see it
• 2.) Explain why it is important to regularly check food items in a refrigerator and food cupboard and to use them up in rotation
• Its best to regularly check it so that you don’t accidentally eat food with mold and because mold spreads quite fast it’s a good idea to throw out
any food that has mold on it as soon as possible. Its best to use the food in rotation because the oldest food is most likely to develop bacteria so
by eating it first you reduce the risk of eating harmful bacteria that you cant quite see.