Bacteriocins, a natural weapon against bacterial contamination for greater safety and preservation of food: a review

Nowadays, consumers have become increasingly attentive to human health and the use of more natural products. Consequently, the demand for natural preservatives in the food industry is more frequent. This has led to an intense research to discover new antimicrobial compounds of natural origin which could effectively fight foodborne pathogens. This research aims to safeguard the health of consumers and, above all, to avoid potentially harmful chemical compounds. Lactobacillus is a bacterial genus belonging to the Lactic Acid Bacteria and many strains are defined GRAS, generally recognized as safe. These strains are able to produce substances with antibacterial activity against food spoilage bacteria and contaminating pathogens: the bacteriocins. The aim of this review was to focus on this genus and their capability to produce antibacterial peptides. The review collected all the information of the last few years about bacteriocins produced by Lactobacillus strains, isolated from clinical or food samples, with remarkable antimicrobial activities useful for being exploited in the food field. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of their use, and the possible ways of improvement for industrial application were described.