Abstract: Fresh meat and meat products are prone to microbial contamination due to the presence of plentiful water, proteins and other nutrients, causing huge economic loss to the meat industry. With increasing consumer demand for green and natural meat products, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have become an excellent alternative to traditional antibacterial agents by virtue of their natural availability and sustainable protective effect. However, a systematic review of the antibacterial mechanism and application in the meat industry of LAB is still lacking today. Therefore, this article outlines the major antibacterial mechanism of LAB as biological antibacterial agents (such as by production of organic acids and bacteriocins as well as competitive inhibition), and it also summarizes the current status of research on the effect of LAB on ensuring the safety of fresh meat and meat products under different packaging methods, different application methods, various metabolic environments or processing conditions, fluctuating temperatures. Moreover, this article discusses the impact of LAB on the quality of meat products and the safety of LAB applied in meat products. Finally, it concludes with future prospects for LAB application in the meat industry.

Key words: lactic acid bacteria; biological antibacterial agent; antimicrobial mechanism; meat safety