Retrospecting the concept and industrial significance of LAB bacteriocins

Ever increasing demand for natural products with minimum chemical additives has necessitated the search for innovative green, potent, environment friendly, natural substitutes for prolonging the shelf life of food products. The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a group of Gram-positive microorganisms with great biotechnological potential in the food industry. To reduce pathogen invasion, they can produce inhibitory compounds (bacteriocins, organic acids, hydrogen peroxide, diacetyl, and carbon dioxide). LAB-bacteriocin are proteinaceous antimicrobial molecules with a diverse genetic origin, post-translationally modified or not, that can help the producer organism to outcompete other bacterial species. In addition, they are emerging as a novel wave of potential antibiotics with potent in vitro and in vivo activities. Moreover, LAB-bacteriocin serves as an effective method of natural bio preservation in the food industry and enables the reduction of other costly or user-unfriendly treatments while increasing the product self-life. Therefore, this article provides a recapitulation of classification of bacteriocins, potential of LAB to produce different bacteriocins, their biology, and purification methods. Additionally, it will give a critical snapshot of industrial applications of LAB-bacteriocin as a starter culture, preservative, antibiotic, and probiotics, etc.