Editorial for special issue of food natural antimicrobials.

This special issue compiled 13 research articles and one review analyzing natural antimicrobial agents applied in real food systems. The accepted submissions were received from 14 countries, including Spain, Brazil, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Greece, Thailand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Argentina, Canada, Iran, and China. The studied antimicrobial substances included phenolic compounds from plant tissues, terpenes from plant essential oils, bacteriocins, and chitosan. The treated food matrices were fresh fruit, fruit juices, beef, chicken products, camel meat, cheese, fish, and yogurt. Most of the published papers directly applied the natural substances in the food matrices, and others use edible coatings, marinades, micro and nanocarriers. Also, hurdle technologies were used to increase the antimicrobial effect of the studied natural substances, including temperature, vacuum packaging, ultraviolet, and edible coatings. In conclusion, promising results were obtained to impulse the transitions of natural antimicrobials as effective agents in the food industry; some contributions to the mode of actions of natural antimicrobials in real food systems were also included.