Microbial spoilage of food causes losses of up to 40% of all food grown for human consumption worldwide. Yeast growth is a major factor in the spoilage of foods and beverages that are characterized by a high sugar content, low pH, and low water activity, and it is a significant economic problem. While growth of spoilage yeasts such as Zygosaccharomyces bailii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae can usually be retarded by weak organic acid preservatives, the inhibition often requires levels of preservative that are near or greater than the legal limits. We identified a novel synergistic effect of the chemical preservative benzoic acid and nitrogen starvation: while exposure of S. cerevisiae to either benzoic acid or nitrogen starvation is cytostatic under our conditions, the combination of the two treatments is cytocidal and can therefore be used beneficially in food preservation. In yeast, as in all eukaryotic organisms, survival under nitrogen starvation conditions requires a cellular response called macroautophagy. During macroautophagy, cytosolic material is sequestered by intracellular membranes. This material is then targeted for lysosomal degradation and recycled into molecular building blocks, such as amino acids and nucleotides. Macroautophagy is thought to allow cellular physiology to continue in the absence of external resources. Our analyses of the effects of benzoic acid on intracellular membrane trafficking revealed that there was specific inhibition of macroautophagy. The data suggest that the synergism between nitrogen starvation and benzoic acid is the result of inhibition of macroautophagy by benzoic acid and that a mechanistic understanding of this inhibition should be beneficial in the development of novel food preservation technologies.
We put forth a wide range of Food Preservatives, which includes Benzoic Acid, Sodium Benzoate and Benzoate Plasticizers. These are non-toxic and processed under the strict supervision of experts to assure accurate composition and purity. Our range is available in various quantities to fulfill different requirements of food industry.
Benzoic Acid
Available with us is an effective range of Benzoic Acid, which is appreciated in international market for precise pH and accurate composition. Due to these high end features, our range is extensively used in preserving foods, fats, fruit juices and alkaloidal solutions.
Applications of Benzoic Acid:
- Used in plasticizers, perfumes and dentifrices
- Used in manufacture of benzoates and benzoyl compounds, dyes as a mordant in calico printing
- Used as anti microbial agent, bacteriostatic & bactericidal agent in medicines
- Used as an anti fungal agent
- Excellent chain terminator in polymerisation process
