Biopreservation, promising strategies to improve the safety and shelf-life of foods: A review

Abstract

Biopreservation refers to the use of antagonistic microorganisms or their metabolic products to inhibit or destroy undesired microorganisms in foods to enhance food safety and extend shelf life. In order to achieve improved food safety and to harmonize consumer demands with the necessary safety standards, traditional means of controlling microbial spoilage and safety hazards in foods are being replaced by combinations of innovative technologies that include biological antimicrobial systems such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and/or their metabolites. The antagonistic properties of LAB derive from competition for nutrients and the production of one or more antimicrobial active metabolites such as organic acids (lactic and acetic), hydrogen peroxide, and antimicrobial peptides (bacteriocins). Nowadays the use of LAB bacteriocins is considered an integral part of hurdle technology. Their combined use allows most pathogenic and spoilage bacteria to be controlled and also extend their inhibitory activity spectrum to such intrinsically resistant organisms as the Gram-negative bacteria.