LAB as Biopreservatives to prolong Shelf life of Vegetables

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are gram positive bacteria found in many nutrient rich environments and occur naturally in many food products such as dairy,milk products and vegetables.They are considered to be eco-friendly and have a GRAS status.They are utilised in many food and feed fermentation as a Bio-preservative.The preserving effect is mainly because of reduction of PH due to production of Lactic acid.Beside Lactic acid,several other anti-microbial compounds are produced during growth of LAB which are important in the bio-preservation of food and feed.There are several reports on anti-bacterial activity of LAB,but scanty reports on anti-fungal activity.LAB are reported to produce anti-fungal compounds like reuterin cyclic peptides and organic acids. This property of LAB can be exploited for bio-preservation of vegetables. This book includes information on experimentation and results for anti-fungal properties of LAB.