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

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 log 10 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.