Liang Qingping, Liu Zhemin, Liang Ziyu, Fu Xiaodan, Li Dongyu, Zhu Changliang, Kong Qing, Mou Haijin
College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
Section of Neurobiology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2025 Jan;24(1):e70038. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.70038.
Given the great importance of natural biopreservatives in the modern food industry, lactic acid bacteria (LAB)-producing bacteriocins have gained considerable attention due to their antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens and spoilage bacteria. Although numerous LAB-producing bacteriocins have demonstrated efficiency in preserving food quality in various applications, only a limited number of these compounds have been commercially approved to date. The currently unclear gastrointestinal metabolism of bacteriocins may pose safety risks, as well as cytotoxicity and immunogenicity, which need to be seriously considered before their application. A more noteworthy concern lies in whether bacteriocins induce an imbalance in the gut microbiota, thereby leading to alterations in the abundance of health-associated microorganisms and their metabolites in the gastrointestinal tract. Accordingly, this review presents unique insights into the challenges arising from metabolic interactions between LAB-producing bacteriocins and the gastrointestinal tract. Besides, the application of bacteriocins in the food industry faces challenges arising from the low production yield, weak stability, and insufficient antimicrobial activity. The corresponding development strategies are proposed for conducting the systematic and comprehensive evaluation of the potential safety risks of bacteriocins and their metabolites. The strategies also focus on the rational design to increase the activity and stability, the fermentation control to enhance the production yield, and the hurdle and embedding technology to improve the application effects. It definitively discloses the perspective of bacteriocins to become natural, sustainable, safe, and eco-friendly biological preservatives for the advancement of the food industry.
鉴于天然生物防腐剂在现代食品工业中的重要性，产生细菌素的乳酸菌（LAB）因其对食源性病原体和腐败细菌的抗菌活性而备受关注。尽管众多产生细菌素的乳酸菌已在各种应用中证明了其在保持食品质量方面的有效性，但迄今为止，只有少数这些化合物获得了商业批准。目前尚不清楚细菌素在胃肠道中的代谢情况，这可能会带来安全风险，以及细胞毒性和免疫原性，在其应用之前需要认真考虑。一个更值得关注的问题是细菌素是否会导致肠道微生物群失衡，从而导致胃肠道中与健康相关的微生物及其代谢产物的丰度发生变化。因此，本综述对产生细菌素的乳酸菌与胃肠道之间的代谢相互作用所带来的挑战提出了独特的见解。此外，细菌素在食品工业中的应用面临着产量低、稳定性差和抗菌活性不足等挑战。针对细菌素及其代谢产物潜在安全风险的系统全面评估，提出了相应的发展策略。这些策略还侧重于合理设计以提高活性和稳定性，通过发酵控制提高产量，以及采用栅栏和包埋技术改善应用效果。它明确揭示了细菌素成为天然、可持续、安全和环保型生物防腐剂以推动食品工业发展的前景。
