Microbial ecology of nuts, seeds, and sprouts

This chapter presents an overview of microbial ecology for nuts, seeds, sprouts, and their products in retail markets or food manufacturers. It discusses quantitative and qualitative approaches used to assess pathogenic bacterial contamination of nuts, seeds, and sprouts and also analyzes the published data about microbiological changes occurring in seeds and sprouts during production in a real manufacturing plant. Edible nuts were generally believed to contain few microorganisms due to their inherent dry characteristics, which provide unfavorable environments for bacterial survival and growth. Seeds used for sprouting can have significant levels of endemic bacteria. Contamination levels and the prevalence of bacteria in seeds used for sprout production. Edible nuts, seeds, and sprouts harbor considerable numbers of microorganisms, and the prevalence of food-borne pathogens has been reported in a number of publications. Molds and their toxic metabolites and food-borne pathogenic bacteria are a major concern for the food safety of edible nuts and seeds.