Eukaryotic Antimicrobial Peptides: Promises and Premises in Food Safety

ABSTRACT:  There is a lack of efficient and safe preservatives in the food industry. Massive use of some common food preservation methods has led, over the years, to development of a resistance to different treatments by various food pathogens. Enteric bacteria are especially tolerant to adverse environmental conditions—such as low pH and high salt concentrations— which limits efficiency of some preservation methods. Consumers demand for natural, preservative-free, and minimally processed foods and worldwide concern regarding disease outbreaks caused by food-related pathogens have created a need for development of new classes of antimicrobial (AM) agents. The twentieth century revealed a massive array of new peptide-based antimicrobials. Small ribosomally made compounds are found in practically all living species where they act as important component of host defense. Certain indubitable advantages of peptides—pertaining to simplicity, activity spectra, and bacterial resistance—over known preservative agents advocate their potential for food preservation. Nisin, an AM compound originating from bacteria, is so far the only FDA-approved peptide. However, a growing number of reports describe the potential of animal-derived antimicrobial peptides as food preservatives. These studies have yielded various native compounds and/or derivatives that possess markedly improved antimicrobial properties under a broad range of incubation conditions. The present work reviews the most investigated peptides and accounts for their potential use as alternatives to the preservatives used today. The focus is on research aspects aiming at understanding the mechanism of action of these peptides at extreme environments of various food systems. Collectively, the data accumulated are convincingly indicative of potential applications of these peptides in food safety, namely, with respect to fighting multidrug-resistant pathogens.