Comparative Effects of Selected Food Preservatives from Expired Food Products on the Growth and Biodegradation Potential of Mesophilic Saprophytic Bacteria

The growing number of expired processed food products has become a serious environmental concern since food preservatives used to prolong product shelf life since it can also inhibit the microbes responsible for organic waste decomposition. This study examined the impact of Class II food preservatives found in expired food products. The class II preservatives, such as sulphur dioxide, nitrates and nitrites, benzoic acid, and sorbic acid, were tested on the growth and biodegradation capability of mesophilic saprophytic bacteria involved in solid organic waste degradation. The four bacterial species, such as Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus spp., and Cellulomonas spp., were studied by comparing the breakdown period of preservative-treated food waste to untreated controls. The significance of preservation effects was determined using statistical methods such as independent sample t-tests, one-way and two-way ANOVA, and linear regression. All of preservatives considerably extended the degradation duration in comparison to the control (p < 0.05). Independent t-tests revealed significant differences in sulphur dioxide (t = -8.45, p = 0.00017), nitrates and nitrites (t = -11.90, p = 0.00006), benzoic acid (t = -10.06, p = 0.00014), and sorbic acid (t = -6.26, p = 0.00133). Two-way ANOVA revealed significant effects of preservative treatments and microbial species on degradation behavior (p < 0.001). Regression analysis demonstrated a strong positive connection between natural degradation time and preservative-treated degradation time (r = 0.925), demonstrating that preservatives have a significant negative effect on microbial activity.

Expired food products; Food preservatives; Mesophilic saprophytic bacteria; Organic waste biodegradation; Statistical analysis; ANOVA; Regression analysis; Environmental microbiology.

1. Chen, Yunmin, Ruyang Guo, Yu-Chao Li, Hailong Liu, and Tony Liangtong Zhan. "A degradation model for high kitchen waste content municipal solid waste." Waste management 58 (2016): 376-385. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Dure, P. R., & Jogi, M. M. (2025). Effect of food preservatives on solid organic waste degradation process. International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (IJSDR), 10(7). ISSN: 2455-2631. https://doi.org/10.56975/ijsdr.v10i7.304218 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Endait, Mahesh, and Swati Patil. "Laboratory investigation of compaction characteristics of fresh and degraded municipal solid waste." Waste Disposal & Sustainable Energy 2, no. 4 (2020): 305-312. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Gautam, S. P., P. S. Bundela, A. K. Pandey, Jamaluddin, M. K. Awasthi, and S. Sarsaiya. "Diversity of cellulolytic microbes and the biodegradation of municipal solid waste by a potential strain." International journal of microbiology 2012, no. 1 (2012): 325907. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Gill, Sher Singh, A. M. Jana, and Archana Shrivastav. "Aerobic bacterial degradation of kitchen waste: A review." Journal of microbiology, biotechnology and food sciences 3, no. 6 (2014): 477-483 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Hefnawy, M.; Nagdi, O.M. Microbial Diversity during Composting Cycles of Rice Straw. Int. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Hefnawy, M.; Nagdi, O.M. Microbial Diversity during Composting Cycles of Rice Straw. Int. J. Sci. Res. 2014, 3, 813–820. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. J. Sci. Res. 2014,3, 813–820 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Jogi, Mrunal M, and Pandurang R Dure. 2026. “Effect of Food Preservatives in Expired Food Products on Solid Organic Waste-Degrading Mesophilic Saprophytic Bacteria”. European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety 18 (6):245-61. https://doi.org/10.9734/ejnfs/2026/v18i62082 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Paritosh, Kunwar, Sandeep K. Kushwaha, Monika Yadav, Nidhi Pareek, Aakash Chawade, and Vivekanand Vivekanand. "Food waste to energy: an overview of sustainable approaches for food waste management and nutrient recycling." BioMed research international 2017, no. 1 (2017): 2370927. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Partanen, P.; Hultman, J.; Paulin, L.; Auvinen, P.; Romantschuk, M. Bacterial diversity at different stages of the composting process. BMC Microbiol. 2010, 10, 94. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Pulat, Hasan Firat, and Yeliz Yukselen-Aksoy. "Compaction behavior of synthetic and natural MSW samples in different compositions." Waste management & research 31, no. 12 (2013): 1255-1261. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Ramana, K. V., and Lokendra Singh. "Microbial Degradation of Organic Wastes at Low Temperatures." Defence Science Journal 50, no. 4 (2000): 371. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Rastogi, Mansi, Meenakshi Nandal, and Babita Khosla. "Microbes as vital additives for solid waste composting." Heliyon 6, no. 2 (2020). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Schiraldi, C.; De Rosa, M. Mesophilic Organisms. In Encyclopedia of Membranes; Drioli, E., Giorno, L., Eds.; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2014; pp. 1–2 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Siddique F, Ali Z, Arshad M, Mubeen K and Ghazala A (2024) Exploration of novel eco-friendly techniques to utilize bioactive compounds from household food waste: special reference to food applications. Front. Food. Sci. Technol. 4:1388461. doi: 10.3389/frfst.2024.1388461 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Snyder, A. B., Martin, N., & Wiedmann, M. (2024). Microbial food spoilage: Impact, causative agents and control strategies. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 22(9), 528–542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01037-x [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Urugo, M. M., Teka, T. A., Gemede, H. F., Mersha, S., Tessema, A., Woldemariam, H. W., & Admassu, H. (2024). A comprehensive review of current approaches on food waste reduction strategies. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 23, e70011. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.70011 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Xue, L. (2024). Wasted food, wasted resources? A critical review of environmental impact analysis of food loss and waste generation and treatment. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(17), 7240–7255. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c08426 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Xie, D., Ma, H., Xie, Q., Guo, J., Liu, G., Zhang, B., Li, X., Zhang, Q., Cao, Q., Li, X., Ma, F., Li, Y., Guo, M., & Yin, J. (2024). Developing active and intelligent biodegradable packaging from food waste and byproducts: A review of sources, properties, film production methods, and their application in food preservation. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 23, e13334. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.13334 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Siddique, F. S., Ali, Z., Arshad, M. A., Mubeen, K., & Ghazala, A. (2024). Exploration of novel eco-friendly techniques to utilize bioactive compounds from household food waste: Special reference to food applications. Frontiers in Food Science and Technology, 4. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]