POTENTIAL OF LACTIC-ACID BACTERIA AND NOVEL ANTIMICROBIALS AGAINST GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produce a variety of low molecular mass com pounds including acids, alcohols, carbon dioxide, diacetyl, hydrogen p eroxide and other metabolites. Many of these metabolites have a broad activity spectrum against other species, and their production is large ly affected by the food matrix itself. Bacteriocins inhibit only close ly related species or other Gram-positive microorganisms. Several rece nt reports have described the synergistic effects between various anti microbials, thus widening their application potential. New insights wi th respect to the effective control of Gram-negative bacteria using po tential antibacterial agents should be realized by investigating possi ble mechanisms that either disrupt or bypass the permeability barrier function of the outer membrane.