BIOPOLYMER-BASED FORMULATIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECT OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDE MccJ25(G12Y)

PIOLI,MA; SLAVUTSKY AM; KOLTAN M; ACUÑA L; VINCENT PA; CORBALÁN NS

Salta

Congreso; Joint XIV PABMB Congress and LV Annual SAIB Meeting; 2019

The antimicrobial peptide Microcin J25(G12Y) present advantageous features for its use as a food preservative, such us: temperature and pH resistant, in vitro and in vivo inactivation by digestive enzymes, no effect on coliform intestinal natural population and antimicrobial activity against important foodborne pathogens like Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Shigella. It is known that the efficiency of antimicrobial peptides can decreases when they are added directly to the food since the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, salts, enzymes and pH strongly influence the activity of these agents. To overcome this inconvenient the development of novel formulations like, microcapsules, hydrogels, lipid-based delivery systems, are all examples of carriers for peptide delivery that may improve the therapeutic index of antimicrobial peptides by protecting their activity and improving their bioavailability. In this report we analyze the activity of MccJ25(G12Y) included in two different carrier formulations, microcapsules and hydrogels. Two natural polymers were used to perform these formulations, brea gum was used as wall material for spray drying microencapsulation and a mix of brea gum/pectin to hydrogels preparation. In vitro activity for both formulations was assayed against different foodborne pathogenic and spoilage bacteria, in these assays we observed that the peptide activity was not altered by microencapsulation process or during hydrogel formulation. On the other hand, the activity of microencapsulated microcin was assayed in a food model of beef burgers artificially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 observing a significant decrease respect to the initial bacterial load. In summary our results reinforce the potential of MccJ25(G12Y) as a possible food biopreservant.