Antimicrobial Peptides and Peptidomimetics in Foods – A Synthetic Foray

Abstract

ABSTRACT As 2030 beckons, efforts intensify globally to attain the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly in achieving well‐being and the best possible health outcomes. Pertinently, food and medicines are key to these, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing impediment. Conversely, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are vital parts of the innate immune systems of different organisms, with inhibitory effects against pathogens, and are less susceptible to inducing AMR, are touted as highly active, broad‐spectrum antimicrobial agents. Consequently, synthetic AMPs and peptidomimetics can be regarded as the scientific avant‐garde to a sustainable solution. Significantly, the structural flexibility of many AMPs allows for chemical modifications and foldings that can enhance their nutritive and therapeutic potentials in their mimics; making them highly adaptable and stable for a wide range of applications in foods. This Review highlights AMPs in foods as veritable antidotes to the worsening problem of AMR and the importance of sustainable syntheses toward mitigating AMPs’ inherent limitations as well as increasing their availability, to prevent and eradicate AMR.