Raw meat quality and salt levels affect the bacterial species diversity and community dynamics during the fermentation of pork mince

Fat Inclusion Level, NaCl Content and LAB Starter Cultures in the Manufacturing of Italian-Type Ostrich Salami: Weight Loss and Nutritional Traits

“…This finding was supported by results presented in a study evaluating the effect of NaCl partial substitution on proximate composition of Italian salami [11], where salami manufactured with 2.7% NaCl had the same proximate composition of those prepared with low NaCl formulations. Despite salt content of salami can affect the growth of starter cultures [38], results of the present experiment seemed to indicate that this was not a key factor neither for weight loss nor for the nutritional composition of ostrich salami as no interactions were observed between salt level and type of starter culture used.…”

“…Similarly, in the first stages of ripening, proteolysis in meat is due to endogenous enzymes such as calpains and cathepsins which break sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins, while it is in the last stages of ripening that microbial enzymes play a predominant role in the secondary hydrolysis of oligopeptides and small peptides [40]. However, an appropriate choice of a combination of strains in the formulation of a starter culture is fundamental for successful fermentation and ripening processes, as different strains and microbial species are known to act differently according to different meat types, technological characteristics of the fermentation and ripening parameters [8,38,41,42]. In the current research, the presence of L. curvatus and S. xylosus (LAB 6) led to salami characterized by lower protein and moisture contents compared to those inoculated with L. sakei and S. xylosus (LAB 8).…”

The Use of Less Conventional Meats or Meat with High pH Can Lead to the Growth of Undesirable Microorganisms during Natural Meat Fermentation

“…curvatus became more persistent, as this species is known to prefer a higher pH than Latl. sakei [ 18 , 27 ]. This can be problematic since Latl.…”

“…Even when using conventional pork mince, variability in the product characteristics may cause fluctuations in product safety and quality [ 8 ]. The use of low-quality, dark-firm-dry (DFD) pork meat may cause such fluctuations, which is likely due to its high pH [ 27 ]. High pH values are indeed a major modulator of bacterial dynamics during fermentation [ 15 ].…”

Application of a High-Throughput Amplicon Sequencing Method to Chart the Bacterial Communities that Are Associated with European Fermented Meats from Different Origins

“…In contrast, in traditional fermented sausages, fermentation occurs spontaneously by microorganisms originating from the meat and production environment [ 19 , 20 ]. Depending on the applied processing conditions, traditional fermented sausages can support a much broader CNS species diversity, with S. equorum , Staphylococcus saprophyticus , and S. xylosus being the most prevalent species [ 17 , 21 ].…”