Limitations and Alternative Applications of Carbohydrate Fatty Acid Esters as Food Antimicrobials: A Review

Carbohydrate fatty acid esters (CFAs) are nontoxic food additives with reported antimicrobial activity and growing interest as a potential safer alternative to conventional preservatives. However, their translation into real food systems remains limited. This review examined the main factors that restrict the antimicrobial performance of CFAs in foods and evaluated emerging alternative applications, particularly edible coatings, antibiofilm strategies, and synergistic combinations with other cleaning agents or processing techniques. Overall, the available evidence indicates that the antimicrobial efficacy of CFAs is often reduced in real food matrices compared with in vitro conditions. This loss of activity has been mainly associated with lipid phase partitioning, interactions with proteins, carbohydrates, and environmental factors. The literature also shows that CFAs have been widely incorporated into edible coating systems, where they contribute to barrier and physicochemical properties, although their antimicrobial function in these applications remains insufficiently investigated. In contrast, studies evaluating synergistic approaches consistently suggest that combining CFAs with other agents or processes can improve performance beyond that of CFAs used alone. Available evidence on antibiofilm activity further indicates that CFAs may help inhibit biofilm formation, supporting their potential in food processing environments. Taken together, these findings reveal a clear gap between promising laboratory results and practical food applications. Synergistic strategies appear to offer the most immediate path to improving efficacy, while edible coatings and antibiofilm uses remain promising but underexplored. Further studies under relevant food and processing conditions are needed to clarify the practical antimicrobial potential of CFAs.