Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous coordination materials composed of multidentate organic ligands and metal ions or metal clusters. MOFs have the great potential to be utilized in antibacterial materials for biological, environmental, and food antimicrobial fields. In recent years, MOFs have been applied to various antibacterial fields due to their sustained release capability, porosity, and structural flexibility in combination with many chemicals and/or materials (such as nanoparticles, antibiotics, phytochemicals, and polymers). This review offers a detailed summary of the antibacterial applications of MOFs and their composites, focusing on the combination types of MOFs composites and the antibacterial effect in different applications. These applications are illustrated by the examples discussed in this review.

Polyphenols, as common components with various functional activities in plants, have become a research hotspot. However, researchers have found that the bioavailability and bioactivity of plant polyphenols is generally low because they are usually in the form of tannins, anthocyanins and glycosides. Polyphenol-rich fermented foods (PFFs) are reported to have better bioavailability and bioactivity than polyphenol-rich foods, because polyphenols are used as substrates during food fermentation and are hydrolyzed into smaller phenolic compounds (such as quercetin, kaempferol, gallic acid, ellagic acid, etc.) with higher bioactivity and bioavailability by polyphenol-associated enzymes (PAEs, e.g., tannases, esterases, phenolic acid decarboxylases and glycosidases). Biotransformation pathways of different polyphenols by PAEs secreted by different microorganisms are different. Meanwhile, polyphenols could also promote the growth of beneficial bacteria during the fermentation process while inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, during the fermentation of PFFs, there must be an interactive relationship between polyphenols and microorganisms. The present study is an integration and analysis of the interaction mechanism between PFFs and microorganisms and is systematically elaborated. The present study will provide some new insights to explore the bioavailability and bioactivity of polyphenol-rich foods and greater exploitation of the availability of functional components (such as polyphenols) in plant-derived foods.