Recent Advances in Dairy and Food Bio-preservation Emerging Biological Strategies and Technological Integration

Abstract

Food spoilage and pathogenic contamination are persistent challenges for the global food industry, with serious economic and public health consequences. This problem is especially severe in developing nations like India, where cold chain infrastructure remains unreliable. Conventional preservation methods — including synthetic chemical additives and thermal treatments — face growing limitations due to rising consumer demand for clean-label products and the destruction of heat-sensitive bioactive compounds during processing. Bio-preservation, defined as the use of naturally occurring microorganisms and their metabolic products to extend food shelf life and improve microbial safety, offers a scientifically sound and consumer-acceptable alternative. This review examines four major classes of bio-preservative agents: lactic acid bacteria (LAB), bacteriocins, bacteriophages, and endolysins. Their antimicrobial mechanisms, current food applications, key advantages, and practical limitations are discussed in detail. The integration of these biological agents with non-thermal technologies — high pressure processing, ultrasound, and cold plasma — is assessed through the hurdle technology framework. Future directions examined include nano-encapsulation of antimicrobial compounds, metabolically engineered LAB strains, CRISPR-based pathogen targeting, and intelligent active packaging — all with specific relevance to the Indian dairy and food processing sectors. The paper concludes that bio-preservation holds substantial, largely untapped potential in India, and that indigenous LAB strains derived from traditional fermented foods represent a highly promising but underexplored research frontier

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