Mechanism and manifestation of bacterial quorum sensing in food environment

Research in the field of food science and technology has shown that bacteria can communicate with each other. This communication is population-density dependent and involves signalling molecules that can diffuse between the bacterial cells. The process of communication is called ‘quorum sensing’. Quorum sensing is now known to be a widespread phenomenon responsible for modulating many different activities in diverse Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. This phenomenon has been found to be responsible in food spoilage and biofilm formation by food-related bacteria in the food industry in addition to pathogenesis. Understanding bacterial quorum-sensing systems can help in controlling the growth of undesirable food-related bacteria. Blocking the quorum-sensing signalling molecules in food related bacteria may possibly prevent quorum-sensing-regulated phenotypes responsible for food spoilage. With proper understanding of quorum sensing mechanism we can identify quorum-sensing inhibitors that could be used as food preservatives to enhance food safety and increase shelf life.