Sequino Giuseppina, Valentino Vincenzo, Torrieri Elena, De Filippis Francesca
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici, Italy.
Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Corso Umberto I 40, 80138 Naples, Italy.
Foods. 2022 Jul 21;11(14):2164. doi: 10.3390/foods11142164.
Fruits and vegetables (F&V) products are recommended for the daily diet due to their low caloric content, high amount of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Furthermore, these foods are a source of various phytochemical compounds, such as polyphenols, flavonoids and sterols, exerting antioxidant activity. Despite the benefits derived from eating raw F&V, the quality and safety of these products may represent a source of concern, since they can be quickly spoiled and have a very short shelf-life. Moreover, they may be a vehicle of pathogenic microorganisms. This study aims to evaluate the bacterial and fungal populations in F&V products (i.e., iceberg lettuces, arugula, spinaches, fennels, tomatoes and pears) by using culture-dependent microbiological analysis and high-throughput sequencing (HTS), in order to decipher the microbial populations that characterize minimally-processed F&V. Our results show that F&V harbor diverse and product-specific bacterial and fungal communities, with vegetables leaf morphology and type of edible fraction of fruits exerting the highest influence. In addition, we observed that several alterative (e.g., and ) and potentially pathogenic taxa (such as and ) are present, thus emphasizing the need for novel product-specific strategies to control the microbial composition of F&V and extend their shelf-life.
由于水果和蔬菜（F&V）产品热量低、富含维生素、矿物质和纤维，因此建议将其纳入日常饮食。此外，这些食物还是多种植物化学化合物的来源，如多酚、黄酮类化合物和甾醇，具有抗氧化活性。尽管食用生的F&V有益，但这些产品的质量和安全性可能令人担忧，因为它们容易迅速变质，保质期很短。此外，它们可能是致病微生物的载体。本研究旨在通过依赖培养的微生物分析和高通量测序（HTS）评估F&V产品（即卷心莴苣、芝麻菜、菠菜、茴香、西红柿和梨）中的细菌和真菌群落，以解析表征最低限度加工F&V的微生物群落。我们的结果表明，F&V含有多样且特定于产品的细菌和真菌群落，其中蔬菜的叶片形态和水果可食用部分的类型影响最大。此外，我们观察到存在几种交替（如 和 ）和潜在致病类群（如 和 ），因此强调需要采用新的特定于产品的策略来控制F&V的微生物组成并延长其保质期。
