Food Bioprotection: Lactic Acid Bacteria as Natural Preservatives

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