Microbial diversity of seafood

Abstract

Seafood production is the key to meet the food and nutrition requirements for the growing human population. Nevertheless, billions tonnes of fish are lost or wasted due to problems in fishing and in post-harvest, thereby threatening food security. To improve microbial quality and safety of seafood along the food value chain, food microbiologists now attempt to describe and to understand seafood spoilers and seafood-borne pathogens using novel research tools and methodologies such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies and PCR based methodologies, for example, Real-Time PCR and High Resolution Melting (HRM). The exploration of microbial diversity of seafood is now needed as never before, since we have to tackle new challenges that can affect microbial safety and quality of seafood; Climate Change and Antimicrobial Resistance. The establishment of intelligent strategies towards seafood safety and quality assurance in the context of such challenges will contribute to Sustainable Development Goals and One Health. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd