Natural preservatives and antimicrobialsEnsuring Food Safety naturally

We analyse the food matrix and the microbiological risks that may arise. This information is used to research and develop new antimicrobial strategies as alternatives to the use of antibiotics in the supply chain. Strategies that, unlike antibiotics, focus on fighting micro-organisms more precisely, minimising the development of associated resistance. We combine our know-how in bioprocessing and proteomics to further develop new bio-based antimicrobial compounds (e.g. bacteriocins and endolysins). We define efficient strategies for their production, purification and incorporation into food. We contribute our experience in bacteriophage virus isolation, which allows us to identify more attractive endolysins after sequencing. We design targeted and specific strategies (enzymatic hydrolysis, biocatalysis) to obtain the desired bioactive peptides. We evaluate the characteristics and the manufacturing process of the particular food matrix. Then we propose natural alternatives to the preservatives traditionally used in the particular food. For all these processes, we have our own Biological and Genetic Resource Collection, which contains microorganisms with antimicrobial properties and pathogens isolated from real environments to better assess their antimicrobial capacity. We have tools based on proteomic techniques and tools that allow us to determine the specific effect of these types of molecules on pathogenic microorganisms (Salmonella, Lysteria, E.coli/STEC, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter…)