What are the main sources of biological preservatives?
Biological preservatives refer to a class of high-efficiency preservatives obtained from organisms through biological culture, extraction and separation technology, which has the effect of inhibiting and killing microorganisms. Food is rich in nutrition and easily corrupted by microbial contamination. In order to ensure food safety, people have adopted many methods to preserve food, such as salting, canning, refrigeration and so on. However, under certain conditions, the use of preservatives as an auxiliary means of preservation has a significant effect on preventing food corruption, so preservatives are widely used in the food industry as one of the important food additives.
Plant origin
Edible aromatic plants used in food were originally used for flavoring and flavoring. Recent studies have shown that these substances also have antibacterial and preservative effects, can inhibit the growth of infectious microorganisms, and extend the price of food. These spices include garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, fennel and more. For example, garlic extract has strong inhibition and killing effect on dozens of food spoilage bacteria and fungi, and allicin is the most important functional component. The terpenoids in ginger extract also have strong bactericidal effect.
Microbial source
Biopreservatives of microbial origin are antimicrobial substances produced by microbial metabolism, mainly some organic acids, peptides or precursor peptides. The main mechanism of action is the formation of micropores on the cell membrane, resulting in increased membrane permeability and destruction of the energy production system, thus inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Microbial preservatives that have been approved and are widely used worldwide are lactostreptococcal peptide, kojic acid and natamycin, which are important products in fermentation engineering.
Animal origin
At present, many biological preservatives from animals have been reported, including insect antimicrobial peptides, chitosan and protamine
