Purification of bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria: problems and pointers

Bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria have been widely studied in recent years. However, there are relatively few studies that describe their biochemical structure. This may be due to the many challenges associated with the purification of these antimicrobial peptides. This review focuses on the purification procedures used with bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria and conveys some of the problems associated with this process as well as some of the lessons learned. An improvement in the efficiency of the purification process should contribute significantly to research aimed at the understanding of the biochemical nature of bacteriocins.