A large range of ingredients for food and food products are subject to fungal contamination, which is a major cause of destruction of crops, exposure of animals and humans to invasive mycotoxins, and food spoilage. The resistance of fungal species to common preservation methods highlights the necessity of new ways to increase the shelf life of raw material for food and food products. Antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs) are essential members of the immune system of most living organisms. Due to their broad range of activity and their stability to commonly used food processes, they represent promising alternatives to traditional preservatives. However, despite the growing number of reports of potential food applications of these AMPs, the number of approved peptides is low. Poor solubility, toxicity, and a time-consuming extraction are hurdles that limit their application in food products. Thanks to a deep understanding of the key determinants of their activity, the development of optimized synthetic peptides has reduced these drawbacks. This review presents natural and synthetic antifungal peptides/proteins (AFPs), effective against food-related fungi, with particular emphasis on AFPs from plant sources. The design of novel antifungal peptides via key elements of antifungal activity is also reviewed. The potential applications of natural and synthetic AFPs as novel antifungal food preservatives are finally discussed.
Keywords: antimicrobial peptides; food preservative; food spoilage; peptide design; plants.
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