1. IntroductionFood processing and preservation methods such as heating, drying, salting, freezing, refrigeration, curing, adding sugar and acidification have been applied to combat spoilage and micro- pathogenic organisms present in food (Leistner, 2000b). On the other hand, these conventional technologies have negative impacts on the nutritional value (e.g. loss of essential vitamins and nutrients during heat treatments) (Lado and Yousef, 2002) and on changes in the sensory attributes of food products ( Raso and Barbosa-Canovas, 2003). ). Although microbial safety and stability are important in food production, the current consumer demand for more natural, fresher, safer and more stable foods must be considered (Rastogi, Raghavarao, Balasubramaniam, Niranjan and Knorr, 2007). This situation encourages food manufacturers, product development and quality assurance to develop new techniques with "minimal" processing technology and combine these gentle techniques that provide an alternative to traditional technology and produce safe food products and nutritious (Alakomi, Skytta, Helander, & Ahvenainen, 2002). Leistner (1995a) developed a food preservation technology that combines several factors and is known as barrier technology. Hurdle technology is a food safety and preservation concept designed to maintain microbial stability and improve the total quality of foods without diminishing the nutritional and sensory value of the products (Leistner and Gorris, 1995). This technology exploits the synergy between traditional and new technologies to establish a series of preservation factors (barriers) and keep the standard population of microorganisms present in foods under control. The most common and important obstacles used in food preservation to inhibit the number of microorganisms and ensure the safety and stability of products are temperature, water activity (aw), acidity (pH), competitive microorganisms (e.g..