Bacteriocin Production as a Complementary Characteristic of Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria

TODOROV, S.D.; LEBLANC, J.G.

Journal of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology

Zeal Scienza

Lugar: Secunderabad; Año: 2014 vol. 1 p. 1 - 13

1607-0658

The exploration of natural antimicrobials for use in food preservation has received increasing attention due to consumer demands for more natural food products and a growing concern about microbial resistance toward conventional preservatives. Furthermore, probiotic supplements and probiotic enriched food products have also gained an increased interest in the last decades due to their health promoting benefits. Several studies addressing bacteriocins produced by Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from dairy, meat and fish products have highlighted the potential of these antimicrobial agents in food bio-preservation and even in humans and veterinary practices. Bacteriocins are anti-microbial peptides that can be produced by different microorganisms including LAB that can act through a wide range of mechanism in order to prevent the growth of many food-borne pathogens. Bacteriocin production by LAB may be considered a beneficial property for probiotic bacteria such by providing a competitive advantage over pathogenic bacteria in the preparation of fermented food products or in the survival in gastrointestinal tract.