AUTHOR=Gottardi Davide , Bukvicki Danka , Prasad Sahdeo , Tyagi Amit K. 

TITLE=Beneficial Effects of Spices in Food Preservation and Safety

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01394

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01394

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Spices have been used since ancient times. Although they have been employed mainly as flavoring and coloring agents, their role in food safety and preservation have also been studied <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic>. Spices have exhibited numerous health benefits in preventing and treating a wide variety of diseases such as cancer, aging, metabolic, neurological, cardiovascular, and inflammatory diseases. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the most relevant and recent findings on spices and their active compounds in terms of targets and mode of action; in particular, their potential use in food preservation and enhancement of shelf life as a natural bioingredient.</p>