Abstract: Fungal pathogens pose serious threats in the food field, not only causing food spoilage, but also potentially causing foodborne illnesses, thereby leading to food safety and public health issues. Photodynamic technology (PDT), as an emerging non-thermal sterilization technology, has received widespread attention because of its high efficacy in inactivating fungi and low likelihood of inducing drug resistance. Although PDT has been successfully used in the medical field to treat a variety of fungal infections, its application in the food field is still under research and exploration. This paper outlines the mechanism and technical challenges of photodynamic antifungal technology, and comprehensively analyzes its current development status in the food field. Moreover, the review discusses future prospect for its application in food preservation, hoping to provide important theoretical support and technical guidance for in-depth research on this technology and its application in the food industry.

Key words: photodynamic technology; photosensitizer; fungi; antifungal; food safety