PREDICTIVE MICROBIOLOGY - APPLICATION TO FOOD PACKAGED IN CONVENTIONAL AND NON CONVENTIONAL MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE

Predictive microbiology is a branch of food microbiology which can be useful for the evaluation of shelf-life of products packaged under mod ified atmosphere. In fact, the microbial ecosystem constituted by the food product within the package under a specific atmosphere may be qui te different if compared with the traditionally packaged food. The eco logical determinants of the habitat can determine patterns of microbia l spoilage completely different, both qualitatively and quantitatively , from that of the same product not packaged or packaged under differe nt conditions. In this work the aims and the mathematical instruments of the predictive microbiology are described. Moreover some applicatio ns of this discipline, relative to the prediction of shelf-life of pro ducts packaged under traditional or non conventional modified atmosphe re, are discussed.