Food Bioprotection: Lactic Acid Bacteria as Natural Preservatives

GRACIELA VIGNOLO; LUCILA SAAVEDRA; FERNANDO SESMA; RAUL RAYA

Progress in Food Preservation

JohnWiley&Sons, Ltd.,

Año: 2012; p. 453 - 474

Antimicrobial peptides, namely bacteriocins, produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) arewell known and have been found to be antagonistic toward closely related bacteria and undesirableharmful microorganisms. Several LAB bacteriocins offer great potential in food preservation, andtheir use in the food industry can help to reduce the addition of chemical preservatives and/or theintensity of processing, satisfying consumer demand for natural-tasting, lightly preserved, andready-to-eat foods. In the last 30 years a huge number of publications on bacteriocins have beenproduced and considerable effort has been made recently to develop food applications for manydifferent bacteriocins and bacteriocinogenic LAB strains, either alone or in combination with otherhurdles. Depending on the raw materials, processing conditions, distribution, and consumption, thedifferent food ecosystems offer a great variety of scenarios in which pathogenic and spoilagemicroorganisms may proliferate. Therefore, bacteriocin effectiveness requires careful testingagainst specific target bacteria in the type of food for which they are intended to be applied. Witha view to extending the shelf life of muscle, dairy, and vegetable foods through biopreservation, theapplication of bacteriocinogenic LAB strains and their bacteriocins is discussed here.