Abstract: Food is easily contaminated by harmful microorganisms during processing and storage, which leads to food spoilage and safety risks. Physical and chemical methods are commonly used to preserve food. Although these methods can effectively prolong the shelf-life, they have some shortcomings such as narrow scope of application, safety risks and resource waste. Lactic acid bacteria are used in food as biopreservative agents because of their natural availability, safety and efficient antibacterial activity. This paper reviews the bacteriostatic mechanism of lactic acid bacteria from the aspects of antimicrobial metabolites, quorum sensing and competition, as well as the latest progress in the application of lactic acid bacteria in the biopreservation of dairy products, meat products, aquatic products, and fruit and vegetable products. This review may provide new ideas for safe and efficient food preservation in the future.

Key words: bioprotective bacteria; lactic acid bacteria; antimicrobial mechanism; quorum sensing; application