Fermented sausages are highly treasured traditional foods. A large number of distinct sausages with different properties are produced using widely different recipes and manufacturing processes. Over the last years, eating fermented sausages has been associated with potential health hazards due to their high contents of saturated fats, high NaCl content, presence of nitrite and its degradation products such as nitrosamines, and use of smoking which can lead to formation of toxic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Here we review the recent literature regarding possible health effects of the ingredients used in fermented sausages. We also go through attempts to improve the sausages by lowering the content of saturated fats by replacing them with unsaturated fats, reducing the NaCl concentration by partly replacing it with KCl, and the use of selected starter cultures with desirable properties. In addition, we review the food pathogenic microorganisms relevant for fermented sausages (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, and Toxoplasma gondii) and processing and postprocessing strategies to inhibit their growth and reduce their presence in the products.

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We have compared the efficacy of continuous ultraviolet (UV‐C) (254 nm) and pulsed UV light in reducing the viability of Salmonella Enteritidis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermospacta, Carnobacterium divergens, and extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase producing E. coli inoculated on chicken fillet surface. Fluences from 0.05 to 3.0 J/cm2 (10 mW/cm2, from 5 to 300 s) used for UV‐C light resulted in average reductions from 1.1 to 2.8 log cfu/cm2. For pulsed UV light, fluences from 1.25 to 18.0 J/cm2 gave average reductions from 0.9 to 3.0 log cfu/cm2. A small change in the odor characterized as sunburnt and increased concentration of volatile compounds associated with burnt odor posed restrictions on the upper limit of UV treatment, however no sensory changes were observed after cooking the meat. Treatments under modified atmosphere conditions using a UV permeable top film gave similar or slightly lower bacterial reductions.Practical applicationsUltraviolet (UV) light may be used for decontaminating the surface of food products and reduce viability of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Exposure of raw chicken fillet surface to various doses of continuous UV‐C or pulsed UV light proposed in the present work represent alternatives for microbiological improvement of this product. Chicken fillets can be treated in intact packages covered with UV permeable top film, thus avoiding recontamination of the meat. UV‐C light treatment is a low cost strategy with low maintenance, whereas pulsed UV light involves more elaborate equipment, but treatment times are short and less space is required. Both methods can be helpful for producers to manage the safety and quality of chicken fillets.

Lactobacillus sakei is a lactic acid bacterium important in food microbiology mainly due to its ability to ferment and preserve meat. The genome sequence of L. sakei strain 23K has revealed specialized metabolic capacities that reflect the bacterium's adaption to meat products, and that differentiate it from other LAB. An extensive genomic diversity analysis was conducted to elucidate the core features of the species, and to provide a better comprehension of niche adaptation of the organism. Here, we describe the genomic comparison of 18 strains of L. sakei originating mainly from processed meat against the 23K strain by comparative genome hybridization. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis was used to estimate the genome sizes of the strains, which varied from 1.880 to 2.175 Mb, and the 23K genome was among the smallest. Consequently, a large part of the genome of this strain belongs to a common gene pool invariant in this species. The majority of genes important in adaption to meat products, the ability to flexibly use meat components, and robustness during meat processing and storage were conserved, such as genes involved in nucleoside scavenging, catabolism of arginine, and the ability to cope with changing redox and oxygen levels, which is indicative of the role these genes play in niche specialization within the L. sakei species. Moreover, an additional set of sequenced L. sakei genes beyond the 23K genome was present on the microarray used, and it was demonstrated that all the strains carry remnants of or complete bacteriocin operons. The genomic divergence corresponded mainly to five regions in the 23K genome, which showed features consistent with horizontal gene transfer. Carbohydrate-fermentation profiles of the strains were evaluated in light of the CGH data, and for most substrates, the genotypes were consistent with the phenotypes. We have demonstrated a highly conserved organization of the L. sakei genomes investigated, and the 23K strain is a suitable model organism to study core features of the L. sakei species.

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BackgroundLactobacillus sakei is an important food-associated lactic acid bacterium commonly used as starter culture for industrial meat fermentation, and with great potential as a biopreservative in meat and fish products. Understanding the metabolic mechanisms underlying the growth performance of a strain to be used for food fermentations is important for obtaining high-quality and safe products. Proteomic analysis was used to study the primary metabolism in ten food isolates after growth on glucose and ribose, the main sugars available for L. sakei in meat and fish.ResultsProteins, the expression of which varied depending on the carbon source were identified, such as a ribokinase and a D-ribose pyranase directly involved in ribose catabolism, and enzymes involved in the phosphoketolase and glycolytic pathways. Expression of enzymes involved in pyruvate and glycerol/glycerolipid metabolism were also affected by the change of carbon source. Interestingly, a commercial starter culture and a protective culture strain down-regulated the glycolytic pathway more efficiently than the rest of the strains when grown on ribose. The overall two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) protein expression pattern was similar for the different strains, though distinct differences were seen between the two subspecies (sakei and carnosus), and a variation of about 20% in the number of spots in the 2-DE gels was observed between strains. A strain isolated from fermented fish showed a higher expression of stress related proteins growing on both carbon sources.ConclusionsIt is obvious from the data obtained in this study that the proteomic approach efficiently identifies differentially expressed proteins caused by the change of carbon source. Despite the basic similarity in the strains metabolic routes when they ferment glucose and ribose, there were also interesting differences. From the application point of view, an understanding of regulatory mechanisms, actions of catabolic enzymes and proteins, and preference of carbon source is of great importance.

BackgroundLactobacillus sakei is valuable in the fermentation of meat products and exhibits properties that allow for better preservation of meat and fish. On these substrates, glucose and ribose are the main carbon sources available for growth. We used a whole-genome microarray based on the genome sequence of L. sakei strain 23K to investigate the global transcriptome response of three L. sakei strains when grown on ribose compared with glucose.ResultsThe function of the common regulated genes was mostly related to carbohydrate metabolism and transport. Decreased transcription of genes encoding enzymes involved in glucose metabolism and the L-lactate dehydrogenase was observed, but most of the genes showing differential expression were up-regulated. Especially transcription of genes directly involved in ribose catabolism, the phosphoketolase pathway, and in alternative fates of pyruvate increased. Interestingly, the methylglyoxal synthase gene, which encodes an enzyme unique for L. sakei among lactobacilli, was up-regulated. Ribose catabolism seems closely linked with catabolism of nucleosides. The deoxyribonucleoside synthesis operon transcriptional regulator gene was strongly up-regulated, as well as two gene clusters involved in nucleoside catabolism. One of the clusters included a ribokinase gene. Moreover, hprK encoding the HPr kinase/phosphatase, which plays a major role in the regulation of carbon metabolism and sugar transport, was up-regulated, as were genes encoding the general PTS enzyme I and the mannose-specific enzyme II complex (EIIman). Putative catabolite-responsive element (cre) sites were found in proximity to the promoter of several genes and operons affected by the change of carbon source. This could indicate regulation by a catabolite control protein A (CcpA)-mediated carbon catabolite repression (CCR) mechanism, possibly with the EIIman being indirectly involved.ConclusionsOur data shows that the ribose uptake and catabolic machinery in L. sakei is highly regulated at the transcription level. A global regulation mechanism seems to permit a fine tuning of the expression of enzymes that control efficient exploitation of available carbon sources.

Effects of glucose availability were investigated in Lactobacillus sakei strains 23K and LS25 cultivated in anaerobic, glucose-limited chemostats set at high (D = 0.357 h-1) and low (D = 0.045 h-1) dilution rates. We observed for both strains a shift from homolactic towards more mixed acid fermentation when comparing high to low growth rates. However, this change was more pronounced for LS25 than for 23K, where dominating products were lactate>formate>acetate≥ethanol at both conditions. A multivariate approach was used for analyzing proteome and transcriptome data from the bacterial cultures, where the predictive power of the omics data was used for identifying features that can explain the differences in the end-product profiles. We show that the different degree of response to the same energy restriction revealed interesting strain specific regulation. An elevated formate production level during slow growth, more for LS25 than for 23K, was clearly reflected in correlating pyruvate formate lyase expression. With stronger effect for LS25, differential expression of the Rex transcriptional regulator and NADH oxidase, a target of Rex, indicated that maintainance of the cell redox balance, in terms of the NADH/NAD+ ratio, may be a key process during the metabolic change. The results provide a better understanding of different strategies that cells may deploy in response to changes in substrate availability.