Effective enhancement of food oxidative stability induced by Lactobacillus strains: In vitro activity

The potential applications of Lactobacillus strains as natural additives with many health-beneficial effects have fueled current interests to discover their antioxidative activity to delay food oxidation and improve the nutritional and sensory properties. This review summarizes an updated overview of the last decade's progress in the research of food fermentation by Lactobacillus strains to enhance oxidative stability. Many studies assessed the isolation of Lactobacillus strains with antioxidant properties from foods. However, the research on the antioxidant activity of fermented foods incorporating these strains still lacks a comprehensive review. This review focuses on the importance of incorporating Lactobacillus strains in dairy, fruit, vegetable, meat, cereal, and other food products that are susceptible to oxidation. Moreover, the mechanism of action and the available methods for evaluating antioxidant activity by in vitro studies will also be discussed. L. acidophilus, L. helveticus, L. rhamnosus, L. fermentum, L. plantarum, and L. reuteri are the main examples of Lactobacillus stains that successfully improve the antioxidant activity of fermented foods through releasing antioxidant enzymes, producing secondary metabolites, proteolysis activity, scavenging radicals, and formation of intracellular and extracellular antioxidants. The antioxidant activity of fermented foods can be monitored via different mechanisms, mainly based on hydrogen atom transfer and single electron transfer. In conclusion, Lactobacillus stains can provide a good market for novel fermented foods with nutritional properties due to their antioxidant potential. However, more studies are required to discover the effect of the composition, structure, and processing of food on the antioxidant effect of novel identified strains in commercial fabrication.