Investigating the Effectiveness of Bacteriocin and Silver Nanoparticles By: Yunha Jo || Art By: Jessie Gan Abstract
With food waste as one of the major issues faced by the world, many countries are looking to develop different methods to reduce the waste. One of the possible methods is the use of bacteriocin, ribosomally-synthesized bacterial antimicrobial peptides produced by bacteria and silver nanoparticles, which are known to enhance antibacterial activities. The objective of this research was to test the effectiveness of bacteriocin produced from l.sakei combined with silver nanoparticles produced from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The effectiveness of bacteriocin and silver nanoparticles were tested against Escherichida Coli and Staphylococcus aureus, major bacteria in causing food-borne diseases in humans.
Introduction
Food waste has been one of the major issues faced by countries around the world, with almost one-third of food produced being wasted [1]. The economic losses due to food
waste amount to 1.3 billion USD, around 900 million dollars in environmental costs and 400 million dollars in social costs. [2] As a result of this loss, many countries are looking for ways to solve this issue. Some of the current approaches to solving the issue include extending shelf-life of food products. New types of food packaging such as edible coatings and modified atmosphere storage are used to extend the shelf life. [4] Another method would be to use bacteriocin. Bacteriocins are ribosomally-synthesized bacterial antimicrobial peptides produced by bacteria. [5] They can kill or inhibit bacterial strains closely related or nonrelated. These characteristics of bacteriocins are effective for controlling bacterial growth in different medium, and as a result, bacteriocins are most often used as food preservatives, anti-biofilm agents, and additives or alternatives to existing antibiotics. [6] Bacteriocins are produced from lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which is a group that occurs naturally in food and have been used in dairy products safely. [7] This makes bacteriocin a great alternative to chemical preservatives. Bacteriocin can be produced from lactobacillus sakei, which can be found in kimchi, Korean fermented vegetables. [8] The effectiveness of bacteriocins can be enhanced through the use of nanoparticles. Studies have shown that nanoparticles improve properties and antibacterial activities of bacteriocins. [9] Silver nanoparticles have proven to be especially effective in enhancing the antibacterial activities of bacteriocins. [9] Due to this, silver nanoparticles will be used in the experiment in order to investigate how the
28 | JOURNYS | FALL 2020
