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Gewählte Doctoral Thesis:

Franziska Buchholz (2021): Understanding the microbial community in food during storage.
Doctoral Thesis - Institut für Bodenforschung (IBF), BOKU-Universität für Bodenkultur, pp 186. UB BOKU obvsg

Abstract:

Food loss and waste is undoubtedly one of the most important problems in our society due to the steadily growing world population. Although we are already producing more than enough food, a vast amount that leaves the farm never reaches the consumer. Microbial food spoilage is certainly one of the most important factors responsible for food loss and waste. Nevertheless, knowledge about microbial ecology in most food products during storage remains scarce. In order to gain more insights, the microbial community is studied in this work based on the examples of meat and meat products and potato tubers. Because meat and meat products are highly perishable and have a short shelf life, a high amount of waste occurs, especially at the end of the supply chain. In order to address this issue, microbial spoilage of meat products was investigated. The results revealed that products obtained from various providers showed significant differences in the composition and development of microbial communities. Like in meat products, the microbiota of potato tubers and its role in post-harvest crop quality is largely unknown. The storage stability of potato tubers depends on the plant genotype and storage conditions, although the soil in which the tubers have grown can also play a role. Austrian potato farmers have observed that tubers of the same varieties coming from different fields often show different storage stabilities. Therefore, the aim was to investigate the community dynamics and heritability of tuber-associated microbiota to determine the effect of soil, plant genotype and tuber parts on bacterial community assembly in the potato tuber environment. The statistical analysis revealed a strong influence of the cultivation soil on the microbiome composition and changing communities in tubers over time. The results indicate that the tuber-associated community is transferred vertically to the next generation of potato tubers.

Betreuer:

1. Berater:

2. Berater: Kostic Mirjana