Bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria as biotechnological tools in food and pharmaceuticals: Current applications and future prospects

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are prestigious bacteria which have reserved their position as biotechnological tool due to the probiotic properties characterizing many species of them, as well as the ability of LAB to produce many valuable compounds of significant applications in food and pharmaceuticals industries. Bacteriocins represent one of the important products produced by different bacteria, and by LAB as well. Bacteriocins are peptides that have different applications in food processing and preservation with many commercialized potent products. Moreover, bacteriocins current and future applications extend to pharmaceutical and medical fields as promising anti-multidrug resistant bacteria agents, anticancer, antileishmanial, and antiviral agents. In this review, some of the current and prospective applications of LAB bacteriocins in food, smart antimicrobial food packaging, pharmaceuticals and medical fields were presented. Future prospects of using bacteriocins based on their promising potentials were also discussed.