Abstract:

There are lots of unknown and “unculturable” microorganisms in food, but traditional microbiological methods not only are labor-intensive and time-consuming, but may cause deviation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) is a cultural-independent molecular technique, and has been recently introduced into food microbial ecology. DGGE could easily identify the microorganisms from food, avoiding the potential deviation of traditional methods. This review summarized the development, concept, principle, operation procedure of DGGE and its application in food and food-related ecosystems. The limitation and application prospect of this approach in food microbiology were also discussed.

Key words: food microorganism, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), microbial diversity