Beschreibung:
Food contamination by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites have significant implications for the environment and human health. According to the World Health Organization, 350,000 deaths are related to forborne diseases, like salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, and listeriosis. The most common symptoms of diseases caused by contaminated food are nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea, which range from mild to life threatening. Although all types of food can be affected, animal products, especially meat and eggs, are the predominant sources of foodborne diseases. Foodborne illnesses can either occur through the ingestion of hazardous microorganisms or through microbial toxins. Bacterial species, such as Pseudomonas spp., and fungal strains, such as Aspergillus spp., are potent food spoilage agents, which make food unacceptable and increase food waste. Hence, physical (cooling, heating, radiation) and chemical (preservatives, essential oils, extracts) preservation techniques are used to avoid microbial contamination. However, common preservation methods have disadvantages, such as resistance mechanisms by bacterial strains or no activity against a broad spectrum of microorganism. Therefore, to enhance food safety and reduce food waste, the development of novel preservatives affecting a wide range of microorganisms is highly important. Furthermore, the increase of consumer standards requires food additives from natural sources with high safety standards for human health. Bioactive peptides are already known for their antioxidative, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, and antimicrobial effects. The Antimicrobial Peptide Database (APD) has included 3,257 antimicrobial peptides (AMP) from animals, plants, bacteria, fungi, protists, and archaea sources. Basically, antibacterial activity of peptides can result in two ways. The inhibition of bacterial growth is called bacteriostatic activity, while the bactericidal effect describes the complete inactivation of bacteria. AMPs, especially cationic peptides with ...