Industrial microorganisms: tolerance to antibiotics and application of antimicrobial agents

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a group of microorganisms generally associated to food industry as they are traditionally applied in the production of several fermented food. Beside the aim to optimize the quality of the end product determining the organoleptic and nutritional profile, LAB can also contribute to the safety assessment of food producing different compounds with antimicrobial activity such as bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides and low molecular weight compounds. The production of antimicrobial compounds could be considered a suitable trait to be sought in the selection of starter, non-starter and probiotic strains due to the realistic use of these bacteria in the food industry in order to reduce spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, increase the shelf life, moderate or eliminate the chemical additives. Moreover, the antagonistic activity can also aim to contrast the alarming problem of antibiotic resistance that is a crucial safety pre-assessment. Here, the potential use of LAB as biopreservatives and biotherapeutic agents in the food industry, and an overview about their resistance to antibiotics are discussed.