Antimicrobial Peptides from Lactic Acid Bacteria as a Hurdle Technology Component for Food Preservation: Applications and Safety Considerations

Currently, disease transmission through contaminated foods as well as multiple antibiotic resistance of microbial pathogens is considered a global threat to public health. In addition, the fact that modern food consumers are looking for products with the least amount of food additives, has prompted the food industry to seek for new preservation alternatives. Considering this, the use of bioprotective bacteria as food preservation agents has been widely reported in the scientific and technological literature, with lactic acid bacteria being the microbial group most predominantly employed in current developments. Lactic acid bacteria can produce several antimicrobial compounds such as acid, diacetyl, hydrogen peroxide, antimicrobial peptides, among others. In this regard, antimicrobial peptides can be considered as a promising strategy to address these problems because they present high specificity against targeted microorganisms, elevated thermal stability, fast and effective inhibitory action, and low probability of developing microbial resistance. In this review, we report the current research on the basis, classification, benefits, and various forms of application of antimicrobial peptides from lactic acid bacteria, mainly in the hurdle technology for food biopreservation and discuss the main safety considerations involved in the practical use of these antimicrobial agents.