Progress in Curcumin-Mediated Photodynamic Technology for Microbial Sterilization
Photodynamic sterilization is a non-thermal sterilization method,which is based on photosensitizers,light energy,and oxygen molecules.It uses photosensitizers to absorb light energy and produce active oxides to achieve the microbial sterilization.The common food-grade photosensitizer named curcumin has significant application prospects in photodynamic sterilization technology.This review described the functional properties of curcumin served as the photosensitizer and summarized the progress of curcumin-mediated photodynamic technology in the elimination of bacteria,fungi,and viruses.The key factors influencing the effectiveness of curcumin-mediated photodynamic steril-ization technology,such as curcumin concentrations,light types,and light duration was discussed,which could pro-vide references for the application of curcumin-mediated photodynamic sterilization technology in the food industry.