Biopreservation of emulsified food and cosmetic products by synergistic action of probiotics and plant extracts: a Franco-Bulgarian perspective

Abstract

Simultaneous addition of probiotics and plant extracts in emulsified food or cosmetic products, such as dressings or lotions might not only be convenient to deliver probiotics and plant extracts with interesting biological (e. g. anti-inflammatory) properties but also for their preservation. Franco-Bulgarian ESCAPE project ambition is to identify synergistic combinations of probiotic bioprotective lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and antimicrobial plant extracts for the preservation of food or cosmetic emulsions. In line with this objective, the present review will successively present (i) examples of factors acting synergistically with plant or microbial origin antimicrobial metabolites consistently with hurdle technology principles and the states of the art regarding (ii) antimicrobial plant extracts or (iii) LAB for emulsified products preservation, (iv) the selection of probiotic LAB and plant extracts associations, and (v) the distribution of LAB and antimicrobial metabolites in the different phases of emulsions. Indeed, the respective distributions of LAB, antimicrobial metabolites and unwanted microorganisms in such biphasic systems have been identified as a key factor for the efficiency of antimicrobial metabolites or LAB against unwanted microorganisms. Finally, the respective effects of plant extracts (vi) and LAB (vii) on the stability of emulsions are reviewed before concluding on the promises of the proposed approach.