Proteomics and Peptidomics as Tools for Detection of Food Contamination by Bacteria

Abstract

Proteomics and peptidomics are key foodomic techniques that are indispensable for monitoring of pathogen contamination in foods during their production, storage and transportation, up to their consumption. The thick peptidoglycan layer that stains during the standard Gram‐stain test, and that ensures the exposure of purple Gram‐positive bacterial cells under the microscope, actually protects Gram‐positive bacteria from environmental factors and provides certain survival advantages. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Gram‐negative Campylobacter bacteria, together with norovirus, are the most frequent causes of diarrhoeal disease associated with consumption of unsafe food. Different food‐borne bacterial toxins cause irreversible modifications of the host cellular targets, resulting in extensive losses in their function. Different PCR/qPCR‐based techniques, second and third generation sequencing techniques and other nucleic acid‐based methods are powerful techniques for bacterial detection. This chapter provides an overview on what contemporary proteomic/peptidomic tools are providing in detection and quantification of bacteria in food samples.