In food industry, Bacillus species are encountered in deteriorating many food products thus shortening their shelf-life. Moreover, Bacillus cereus and the subtilis group ( Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus licheniformis , and Bacillus pumilus ) have been recognized as food poisoning agents. Lysozyme peptides preparation (LzP) is a commercially available as a natural food preservative. Although, LzP derived from lysozyme yet it showed only 11% of the lysozyme lytic activity. LzP at a concentration of 100 μg ml −1 completely inhibited B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. mycoides, B. pumilus, B. coagulans, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. polymexa and B. macerans . However, B. cereus and B. stearothermophilus showed a slightly higher resistance. Interestingly, LzP at concentration ⩾10 μg ml −1 showed inhibitory effect on both vegetative and spore forms of B. subtilis . Moreover, LzP was stable at 95 °C for 30 min and at different pH values (4.5–7). In conclusion, LzP may be useful to control growth of Bacillus spoilage organisms.
