The potential of lacticin 3147, enterocin AS-48, lacticin 481, variacin and sakacin P for food biopreservation

In the last few decades, much research has been undertaken to characterize the antimicrobial and preservative qualities of many bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). To date, only nisin and pediocin PA-1/AcH have gained wide commercial use as natural food biopreservatives. However, many other bacteriocins also offer promising perspectives in terms of preservation and shelf-life extension of food products. Some of them exhibit narrow-spectrum activity and therefore may be used in applications requiring the selective inhibition of certain food pathogens (i.e. Listeria monocytogenes) without affecting the natural beneficial microflora. Others with broad-spectrum activity potentially present wider uses. Additionally, when used in combination with selected hurdles (physico-chemical treatments, antimicrobial agents or peptides), these bacteriocins have proved a highly effective form of preservation and should find commercial application as food preservatives in the near future.