Antimicrobial activity bacteriocins

Leuconostoc Starter culture in dairy fermentation Antimicrobial activity by producing various bacteriocins... 

Biocidal polymers are considered to be the next generation of antibiotics which can be effectively used against microbial infections. The antimicrobial activities of silver-bearing functionalised polymers and L-lactide polymeric NP are an important aspect in the prevention of bacterial skin and urinary tract infections. Biologically derived compounds, such as bacteriocins, phytochemicals and enzymes, can be used in antimicrobial food packaging. 

Another important issue deals with antimicrobial food packaging, as detailed in Chapter 10. Antimicrobial packaging systems based on PLA would be superior to other antimicrobial materials due to its comparable cost, effective antimicrobial activity, few regulatory concerns and environmental friendliness. For example, the incorporation of bacteriocins into PLA matrices could provide a delivery system to improve their efficiency in food applications, e.g. PLA/nisin films show this behaviour and they have been proposed for commercial use. Actually, the PLA/nisin polymers can be used in bottle manufacturing or coated onto the bottle surface for use in liquid food packaging, as well as into films or coated on the surface of films for use in solid food packaging. 

The succession of bacterial species during alcoholic fermentation can be explained by a difference in the sensitivity of bacteria to interactions with yeasts. Interactions between lactic acid bacteria must also exist, simultaneously. Like other microorganisms, they can synthesize and liberate substances with antimicrobial activities. This problem has been examined closely in the milk industry, where the consequences are more serious. These substances are simple (hydrogen peroxide, organic acids, etc.) or more complex. Bacteriocins are a class of proteins whose bactericidal activity generally has a narrow range of action. It is sometimes even limited to the same species as the producing strain. Fundamental and applied research on... 

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