Microbiological effect of complete replacement of nitrites/nitrates with starter cultures in traditional raw-dried fermented sausage “Lukanka Panagyurska”

Abstract

The article is focused on microbiological safety of the traditional raw-dried meat product “Lukanka Panagyurska”, produced by a starter cultures, containing Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GLP3 and Debaryomyces hansenii ATCC 36239 instead of using nitrates/nitrites. The aim of the study was to demonstrate that the starter cultures had a similar or better preservative effect as the traditional nitrates transformed into nitrites in the drying-ripening phase. The effect of the same starter cultures, produced by two different technological approaches on the survival of foodborne pathogens (Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens) was examined. The study showed the presence of the lactic acid microorganisms at every stage of the production process of the raw-dried meat product. Zoonotic pathogens as S. Typhimurium and L. monocytogenes and sanitary indicator bacteria as E. coli and C. perfringens were combined to control the levels of pathogen inactivation. The preservative effect of the starter cultures resulting from lactic acid fermentation was more effective in comparison to that of nitrites/nitrates. The experiments proved that the microbiological safety of the raw-dried meat product was improved in comparison with the popular practice of adding nitrates/nitrites as a preservative.