Fermentation factors influencing the production of bacteriocins by lactic acid bacteria: a review

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are of major interest in the food industry primarily by virtue of their biopreservative properties. LAB have ability to produce various types of antimicrobial compounds, the most important being bacteriocins. Bacteriocins and bacteriocin-producing cultures have the potential to increase the shelf-life of foods and contribute towards decreasing the incidence of food-borne diseases. In this respect, food preservation through in situ production of bacteriocins by LAB introduced into the food system would be the most logical approach. However, there is a need to understand the relationship between bacterial growth and bacteriocin production in various types of food system. Bacteriocin production by LAB is dependent on a number of factors such as the types of carbon and nitrogen sources and their concentrations in the media formulation. Other factors which need to be considered are the culture conditions which include pH, temperature and aeration which greatly influence the cultivation performance of bacteriocins producing LAB. Economic aspects pertaining to the optimization of fermentation process for the enhancement of bacteriocin production should also be given due considerations. Failure to acknowledge or recognize this hidden economic element would be a substantial financial loss to the industry especially from the point of view that the product is costly and highly sought after. Thus, the fermentation factors which influence the production of bacteriocins by LAB and the approaches to improve the production not only in term of yield and productivity but also in term of economic and regulation are reviewed in this paper.