Seafood biopreservation by lactic acid bacteria - A review

Biopreservation is a powerful and natural tool to extend shelf life and to enhance the safety of foods by applying naturally occurring microorganisms and/or their inherent antibacterial compounds of defined quality and at certain quantities. In this context, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) possess a major potential for use in biopreservation because most LAB are generally recognized as safe, and they naturally dominate the microflora of many foods. The antagonistic and inhibitory properties of LAB are due to different factors such as the competition for nutrients and the production of one or more antimicrobially active metabolites such as organic acids (prevailingly lactic and acetic acid), hydrogen peroxide, and antimicrobial peptides (bacteriocins). This review addresses various aspects related to the biological preservation of seafood and seafood products by LAB and their metabolites.