Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 01 frontiersin.org Exploring the untapped potential of naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds: novel advancements in food preservation for enhanced safety and sustainability Arun Karnwal 1 * and Tabarak Malik 2 * 1 School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India, 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia Current research trends emphasize the strategic utilization of natural and renewable resources, specifically within food and medicine, focusing on naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds. While growing interest is in extracting secondary metabolites from plants, bacteria, and enzymes, a substantial portion of these naturally derived molecules remains inadequately explored. These antimicrobial agents exhibit heightened safety compared to their synthetic counterparts, posing no health risks to consumers. This presents an opportunity to replace perilous synthetic chemicals within the food sector. Despite the increasing popularity of natural additive sources, there is a potential for adverse effects on product sensory qualities. Therefore, notwithstanding recent advancements, further investigation is imperative to optimize effective quantities for the successful inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms. This article delves into pioneering developments in food preservation, offering contemporary insights into natural preservation solutions, especially for perishable commodities. KEYWORDS food antimicrobials, food preservation, nanoparticles antimicrobials, microbial metabolites, medicinal properties 1 Introduction For years, the food industry has been utilising a variety of chemicals to prevent the spread of bacteria that cause food to decay. ey are used in association with high temperatures to prolong the storage life of goods by killing off harmful and spoilage-causing microorganisms (Appendini and Hotchkiss, 2002; Gyawali and Ibrahim, 2014). However, their use can diminish particular food’s organoleptic and sensory aspects. Bio preservatives are natural organic substances and are derived from plants, animals, or microorganisms (Gyawali and Ibrahim, 2014) (Figure 1). ey are used to extend the time for food products to be consumed safely. ese compounds contribute to the enhancement of food functionality and quality by reducing pathogens to minimal levels or eliminating them entirely (Babaei-Ghazvini et al., 2021; Mshana et al., 2021; Budiati et al., 2022). e predominant mechanism involves their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, exerted OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Xingran Kou, Shanghai Institute of Technology, China REVIEWED BY Łukasz Łopusiewicz, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Poland Narashans Alok Sagar, Chandigarh University, India *CORRESPONDENCE Arun Karnwal arunkarnwal@gmail.com Tabarak Malik malikitrc@gmail.com RECEIVED 04 October 2023 ACCEPTED 12 February 2024 PUBLISHED 21 February 2024 CITATION Karnwal A and Malik T (2024) Exploring the untapped potential of naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds: novel advancements in food preservation for enhanced safety and sustainability. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 8:1307210. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1307210 COPYRIGHT © 2024 Karnwal and Malik. This is an open- access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. TYPE Review PUBLISHED 21 February 2024 DOI 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1307210