Epidermin

A member of the lantibiotic group of polypeptide antibiotics. Synthesised by Staphylococcus epidermidis, it inhibits many Gram-positive bacteria. Lantibiotics such as epidermin are studied as potential natural preservatives because they target spoilage and pathogenic bacteria selectively while leaving the food’s own chemistry untouched. Lantibiotics contain unusual cross-linked amino acids — lanthionine and methyllanthionine — that give them potent activity against Gram-positive targets including staphylococci and listeria. Nisin, the only lantibiotic widely approved as a food preservative (E234), demonstrates the regulatory pathway epidermin-like peptides would need: toxicological dossiers, ADI setting and label declaration.