title: Efficacy of lactoferricin B in controlling ready-to-eat vegetable spoilage caused by Pseudomonas spp.
abstract: The microbial content of plant tissues has been reported to cause the spoilage of ca. 30% of chlorine-disinfected fresh vegetables during cold storage. The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial peptides in controlling microbial vegetable spoilage under cold storage conditions. A total of 48 bacterial isolates were collected from ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetables and identified as belonging to Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Aeromonas media, Pseudomonas cichorii, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas jessenii, Pseudomonas koreensis, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas simiae and Pseudomonas viridiflava species. Reddish or brownish pigmentation was found when Pseudomonas strains were inoculated in wounds on leaves of Iceberg and Trocadero lettuce and escarole chicory throughout cold storage. Bovine lactoferrin (BLF) and its hydrolysates (LFHs) produced by pepsin, papain and rennin, were assayed in vitro against four Pseudomonas spp. strains selected for their heavy spoiling ability. As the pepsin-LFH showed the strongest antimicrobial effect, subsequent experiments were carried out using the peptide lactoferricin B (LfcinB), well known to be responsible for its antimicrobial activity. LfcinB significantly reduced (P ≤ 0.05) spoilage by a mean of 36% caused by three out of four inoculated spoiler pseudomonads on RTE lettuce leaves after six days of cold storage. The reduction in the extent of spoilage was unrelated to viable cell density in the inoculated wounds. This is the first paper providing direct evidence regarding the application of an antimicrobial peptide to control microbial spoilage affecting RTE leafy vegetables during cold storage.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council of Italy,G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy. Electronic address: federico.baruzzi@ispa.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Baruzzi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council of Italy,G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Loris
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council of Italy,G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quintieri
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council of Italy,G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carito
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council of Italy,G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council of Italy,G. Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caputo
mesh_terms: D000150:Acinetobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000333:Aeromonas / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002713:Chlorine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003080:Cold Temperature; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018545:Lactuca / Q000382:microbiology; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004202:Disinfectants; D005520:Food Preservatives; C082171:lactoferricin B; D002713:Chlorine; D007781:Lactoferrin
keywords: Antimicrobial peptides; Cold storage; Spoilage bacteria; Tissue decay; Vegetable shelf-life