Food-derived coagulase-negative Staphylococcus as starter cultures for fermented foods

Abstract

Food safety is of significant concern to consumers and is a major issue for the food industry. As such, the industry is aware of the importance of safety assessments of starters used in the production of fermented foods. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are the predominant bacteria found in fermented foods worldwide. Because of this, food-derived CNS are used as starters for cheese and meat fermentation, and have been investigated for use as starters in soybean fermentation. Although food-derived CNS are generally considered non-pathogenic, their safety remains uncertain following the isolation of CNS from skin infections in humans and animals, and because they belong to the same genus as the highly pathogenic species Staphylococcus aureus. This review explores what is known about the safety of food-derived CNS, focusing on antibiotic resistance, enterotoxin genes, and biogenic amine production, to aid in the selection of starter candidates.

Metagenomic Analysis of Bacterial Diversity in Traditional Fermented Foods Reveals Food-Specific Dominance of Specific Bacterial Taxa

“…Notably, coagulase negative Staphylococcus species have been reported as the predominant species of bacteria in fermented foods worldwide. Species of Staphylococcus are used as microbial starters in cheese, meat, and soybean fermentation [43]. Importantly, a few species of Staphylococcus are also known to be food borne pathogens for humans and other animals [44].…”

Incidence of Tetracycline and Erythromycin Resistance in Meat-Associated Bacteria: Impact of Different Livestock Management Strategies

“…Many studies have reported acquired resistance to erythromycin and tetracycline among lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS), and therefore, their corresponding genetic determinants are considered an important potential cause of the horizontal spread of antibiotic-resistant (AR) genes between different bacterial species [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Technological and Safety Characterization of Kocuria rhizophila Isolates From Traditional Ethnic Dry-Cured Ham of Nuodeng, Southwest China

“…The genes encoding for tyrosine decarboxylase, histidine decarboxylase, lysine decarboxylase, and ornithine decarboxylase were also found missing from the two K. rhizophila isolates, in line with the observation of their non-producing phenotype for the biogenic amines. Genome sequencing of food-derived S. carnosus , S. equorum , S. succinus , and S. xylosus isolates showed that they all carried lysine decarboxylase-encoding genes required for cadaverine production, and none carried genes involved in histamine and tyramine production ( Heo et al, 2020 ).…”