Mass Spectrometry (MS)-based Bacterial Identification in the Food Industry

Abstract

Mass spectrometry (MS) has been broadly applied for the analysis of bacteria in various food matrices. This chapter comprehensively summarizes MS-based bacterial identification in different foods. The detection of pathogenic microbes in animal-based foods including poultry, aquatic food products, beef, and porcine meat as well as plant-based foods including fruits, lettuce, nuts, rice seeds, and potatoes is addressed. The detection of bacteria in processed foods, including fruit juice, ready-to-eat foods, baby foods, and fermented food products, as well as probiotics used in (canned) foods, is discussed. Identification of recombinant bacteria or unauthorized genetically modified (GM) bacteria, detection of antibiotic residues and drug resistance of bacteria, and analysis of bacterially produced toxins by MS are also discussed. The contamination and spoilage of foods monitored by MS are summarized. Many other concerns like the factors that affect the reliability of identification of bacteria by MALDI-TOF MS, the accuracy and sensitivity of identification of bacteria by MALDI-TOF MS, the impact of probiotics on fruit juice aroma by GC–MS, the integration of MS techniques with other methods, and MALDI-TOF MS applied to food product quality inspection are also covered. MALDI-TOF MS has been broadly utilized in bacteria-related food safety supervision together with GC–MS, LC–MS, nanoLC–MS, HPLC–MS/MS, LC–ESI/MS, UHPLC–MS/MS, FT–ICR/MS, or other emerging MS techniques. It is envisaged that MS will continue to be applied in the food industry for food safety control.