Lysozyme-Derived Peptides as a Novel Nutra-Preservative to Control Some Food Poisoning and Food Spoilage Microorganisms

Abstract

Abstract Food-borne illnesses and microbial food contamination are crucial concerns and still issues of major worldwide concern. Lysozyme (Lz) is an active protein against Gram-positive bacteria through its muramidase lytic activity, however, several authors could identify some antimicrobial peptides derived from native Lz that have an exaggerated and broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Therefore, a lysozyme peptides preparation (LzP) is developed in order to broaden the Lz spectrum. In this work, we investigated the potential efficacy of LzP as a novel Nutra-preservative (food origin) agent against some pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Our results showed that LzP demonstrated only 11% of the lysozyme lytic activity. However, LzP exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, and Pseudomonas species, while Salmonella typhi and Aeromonas hydrophila exhibited slight resistance. Despite the lowest LzP concentration (0.1%) employed, it performs stronger antibacterial activity than weak organic acids (0.3%). Interestingly, the synergistic multi-component formulation (LzP, glycine, and citric acid) could inhibit 6 log10 cfu/ml of E. coli survival growth. The effect of heat treatment on LzP showed a decrease in its antibacterial activity at 5 and 67% by boiling at 100ºC/30 min, and autoclaving at 121 ºC/15 min; respectively. On the other hand, LzP acquired stable antibacterial activity at different pH values (4–7). In conclusion, LzP would be an innovative, natural, and food-origin preservative to control the growth of food poisoning and spoilage bacteria in food.