Glycinin basic peptide (GBP) is the basic polypeptide of soybean glycinin that is isolated using cheap and readily available raw materials (soybean meals). GBP can bear high-temperature processing and has good functional properties, such as emulsification and adhesion properties et al. GBP exhibits broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as fungi. Beyond that, GBP shows enormous application potential to improve the quality and extend the shelf life of food products. This review will systematically provide information on the purification, physicochemical and functional properties of GBP. Moreover, the antimicrobial activities and multi-target antimicrobial mechanism of GBP as well as the applications of GBP in different food products are also reviewed and discussed in detail. This review aims to offer valuable insights for the applications of GBP in the food industry as a promising natural food additive and preservative.

Wood vinegar is a high-value acidic byproduct of biomass pyrolysis used for charcoal production. It is widely used in agriculture and forestry. The adverse effects of synthetic fungicides on the environment and human health have prompted the increasing use of biofungicides as alternatives to traditional products in integrated plant disease management programs. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the potential of wood vinegar as a disease management tool in agriculture and forestry. In this paper, the composition and preparation process of wood vinegar and its application in agriculture and forestry were introduced, and the effect and mechanism of wood vinegar against fungi, viruses and bacteria were summarized. The potential of wood vinegar as a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to conventional chemical fungicides is also discussed. Finally, some suggestions on the application and development of wood vinegar were put forward.

In recent years, food safety caused by foodborne pathogens and spoilage bacteria has become a major public health problem worldwide. Bacteriocins are a kind of antibacterial peptide synthesized by microbial ribosomes, and are widely used as food preservatives. However, when used individually bacteriocins may have limitations such as high cost of isolation and purification, narrow inhibitory spectrum, easy degradation by enzymes, and vulnerability to complex food environments. Numerous studies have demonstrated that co-treatment with bacteriocins and a variety of chemical substances can have synergistic antibacterial effects on spoilage microorganisms and foodborne pathogens, effectively prolonging the shelf life of food and ensuring food safety. Therefore, this paper systematically summarizes the synergistic bacteriostatic strategies of bacteriocins in combination with chemical substances such as essential oils, plant extracts, and organic acids. The impacts of bacteriocins when used individually and in combination with other chemical substances on different food substrates are clarified, and bacteriocin-chemical substance compositions that enhance antibacterial effectiveness and reduce the potential negative effects of chemical preservatives are highlighted and discussed. Combined treatments involving bacteriocins and different kinds of chemical substances are expected to be a promising new antibacterial method and to become widely used in both the food industry and biological medicine.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen causing serious public health problems. Nisin is a natural antimicrobial agent produced by Lactococcus lactis and widely used in the food industry. However, the anti-L. monocytogenes efficiency of nisin might be decreased due to natural or acquired resistance of L. monocytogenes to nisin, or complexity of the food environment. The limitation of nisin as a bacteriostatic agent in food could be improved using a combination of methods. In this review, the physiochemical characteristics, species, bioengineered mutants, and antimicrobial mechanism of nisin are reviewed. Strategies of nisin combined with other antibacterial methods, including physical, chemical, and natural substances, and nanotechnology to enhance antibacterial effect are highlighted and discussed. Additionally, the antibacterial efficiency of nisin applied in real meat, dairy, and aquatic products is evaluated and analyzed. Among the various binding treatments, the combination with natural substances is more effective than the combination with physical and chemical methods. However, the combination of nisin and nanotechnology has more potential in terms of the impact on food quality.

Food packages have been detected carrying novel coronavirus in multi-locations since the outbreak of COVID-19, causing major concern in the field of food safety. Metal-based supported materials are widely used for sterilization due to their excellent antibacterial properties as well as low biological resistance. As the principal part of antibacterial materials, the active component, commonly referred to Ag, Cu, Zn, etc., plays the main role in inhibiting and killing pathogenic microorganisms by destroying the structure of cells. As another composition of metal-based antibacterial materials, the carrier could support and disperse the active component, which on one hand, could effectively decrease the usage amount of active component, on the other hand, could be processed into various forms to broaden the application range of antibacterial materials. Different from other metal-based antibacterial reviews, in order to highlight the detailed function of various carriers, we divided the carriers into biocompatible and adsorptable types and discussed their different antibacterial effects. Moreover, a novel substitution antibacterial mechanism was proposed. The coating and shaping techniques of metal-based antibacterial materials as well as their applications in food storage at ambient and low temperatures are also comprehensively summarized. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and reference for researchers in this field to develop new metal-based antibacterial materials.

Surfactin, an antibacterial lipopeptide produced by different strains of Bacillus subtilis, is a powerful biosurfactant. It also has multiple biological activities including antiviral, anti-mycoplasma and antiprotozoal activities, in addition to the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Surfactin may be one of the promising alternatives to antibiotics. Surfactin\'s chemical structure and physicochemical properties are briefly discussed in this mini-review. Surfactin\'s antibacterial mechanism is mainly outlined as follows: (1) attacking pathogenic bacteria\'s cell membrane, causing cell membrane disintegration or osmotic pressure imbalance; (2) inhibiting pathogenic bacteria\'s protein synthesis, preventing cell reproduction; (3) inhibiting pathogenic bacteria\'s enzyme activity, affecting normal cell metabolism. This provides basis for the further research and application of surfactin. Finally, the application of surfactin in food and its prospect are summarized in brief.

Glycolipid biosurfactants are natural amphiphiles and have gained particular interest recently in their biodegradability, diversity, and bioactivity. Microbial infection has caused severe morbidity and mortality and threatened public health security worldwide. Glycolipids have played an important role in combating many diseases as therapeutic agents depending on the self-assembly property, the anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties, and the antimicrobial properties, including antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral effects. Besides, their role has been highlighted as scavengers in impeding the biofilm formation and rupturing mature biofilm, indicating their utility as suitable anti-adhesive coating agents for medical insertional materials leading to a reduction in vast hospital infections. Notably, glycolipids have been widely applied to the synthesis of novel antimicrobial materials due to their excellent amphipathicity, such as nanoparticles and liposomes. Accordingly, this review will provide various antimicrobial applications of glycolipids as functional ingredients in medical therapy.

Bacteriocins are generally considered as low-molecular-weight ribosomal peptides or proteins synthesized by G+ and G- bacteria that inhibit or kill other related or unrelated microorganisms. However, low yield is an important factor restricting the application of bacteriocins. This paper reviews mining methods, heterologous expression in different systems, the purification technologies applied to bacteriocins, and identification methods, as well as the antibacterial mechanism and applications in three different food systems. Bioinformatics improves the efficiency of bacteriocins mining. Bacteriocins can be heterologously expressed in different expression systems (e.g., Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus, and yeast). Ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis membrane, pH-mediated cell adsorption/desorption, solvent extraction, macroporous resin column, and chromatography are always used as purification methods for bacteriocins. The bacteriocins are identified through electrophoresis and mass spectrum. Cell envelope (e.g., cell permeabilization and pore formation) and inhibition of gene expression are common antibacterial mechanisms of bacteriocins. Bacteriocins can be added to protect meat products (e.g., beef and sausages), dairy products (e.g., cheese, milk, and yogurt), and vegetables and fruits (e.g., salad, apple juice, and soybean sprouts). The future research directions are also prospected.

Metal oxide nanomaterials are one of the preferences as antibacterial active materials. Due to its distinctive electronic configuration and suitable properties, ZnO is one of the novel antibacterial active materials. Nowadays, researchers are making a serious effort to improve the antibacterial activities of ZnO by forming a composite with the same/different bandgap semiconductor materials and doping of ions. Applying capping agents such as polymers and plant extract that control the morphology and size of the nanomaterials and optimizing different conditions also enhance the antibacterial activity. Forming a nanocomposite and doping reduces the electron/hole recombination, increases the surface area to volume ratio, and also improves the stability towards dissolution and corrosion. The release of antimicrobial ions, electrostatic interaction, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generations are the crucial antibacterial activity mechanism. This review also presents a detailed discussion of the antibacterial activity improvement of ZnO by forming a composite, doping, and optimizing different conditions. The morphological analysis using scanning electron microscopy, field emission-scanning electron microscopy, field-emission transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and confocal microscopy can confirm the antibacterial activity and also supports for developing a satisfactory mechanism. Graphical abstract showing the metal oxides antibacterial mechanism and the fluorescence and scanning electron microscopic images.

Curcumin is a plant-derived polyphenolic active substance with broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. Curcumin blocks bacterial growth owing to its structural characteristics and the generation of antioxidation products. Curcumin can inhibit bacterial virulence factors, inhibit bacterial biofilm formation and prevent bacterial adhesion to host receptors through the bacterial quorum sensing regulation system. As a photosensitizer, curcumin acts under blue light irradiation to induce phototoxicity and inhibit bacterial growth. Moreover, it can exert a synergistic antibacterial effect with other antibacterial substances. In this review, we summarize the research progress on the antibacterial mechanism of curcumin based on five targeting structures and two modes of action. Our discussion provides a theoretical basis and technical foundation for the development and application of natural antibacterial agents.