Effects of Lactic Acid Bacteria on Pork Meat Maturation

Abstract

For the purpose of reduction of the maturation process of pork meat, the bio preservation of meat products and the prevention of microbial contamination, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus plantarum strains were used. The application of Lactic Acid Bacteria strains proved to impact on the duration of the maturation process of salt-cured pork by shortening the process as opposed to samples of pork salt-cured in a traditional way and containing a commercial BactoFlavor culture used in production. The maturation process of pork was accompanied by decreased glycogen levels, increased lactic acid dominant in samples containing L.Plantarium and L.Rhamnosus strains. The maturation also triggered a shift in pH making it more acidic. The tendency towards glycogenolysis in samples containing LAB strains, prior to the formation of lactic acid, is determined by LAB strains producing lactic acid too, which comes to explain the low level of pyruvate. The application of LAB strains as protective starter cultures with bactericidal activity during the in-situ fermentation of meat demonstrates that the use of strains leads to the decrease of total contamination by 2 Log CFU/ml, while using commercial starter brings to the decrease of total contamination by 1 Log CFU/ml. After 4 days of meat maturation, L. rhamnosus and L. plantarum inhibited the growth of E. coli by 2 Log CFU/ml, after 8 days the use of LAB and the BactoFIavor led to the absence of E. coli. The broad antimicrobial and bacteriocins spectrum of LAB stimulated their application in the food industry as natural preservatives.