Characterization of Leuconostoc carnosum and Latilactobacillus sakei during Cooked Pork Ham Processing

Cooked ham is a popular, ready-to-eat product made of pork meat that is susceptible to microbial growth throughout its shelf life. In this study, we aimed to monitor the microbial growth and composition of nine vacuum-packed cooked ham lots using plate counting until the microbial limit of 7.4 log10 AMC/LAB CFU/g was exceeded. Eight out of nine lots exceeded the microbial limit after 20 days of storage. Lactic acid bacteria strains, particularly Leuconostoc carnosum and Latilactobacillus sakei, prevailed in vacuum-packed cooked ham. Leuconostoc carnosum 2 (Leuc 2) and Latilactobacillus sakei 4 (Sakei 4) were isolated from raw meat and the post-cooking area of the food processing facility. Carbohydrate utilization patterns of Leuc. carnosum PFGE types isolated from raw meat and the food processing environment differed from those isolated from cooked ham. These findings demonstrate how raw meat and its processing environment impact the quality and shelf life of cooked ham.

[1]  A. Soriano,et al.  Development and Innovation in Cooked Ham Produced in Spain , 2023, Foods.

[2]  I. Ferrocino,et al.  Selection of food cultures with protective properties for cooked ham. , 2023, Food microbiology.

[3]  J. Lorenzo,et al.  Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bacteriocins: Novel Biotechnological Approach for Biopreservation of Meat and Meat Products , 2022, Microorganisms.

[4]  O. Šedo,et al.  The Pork Meat or the Environment of the Production Facility? The Effect of Individual Technological Steps on the Bacterial Contamination in Cooked Hams , 2022, Microorganisms.

[5]  S. Raimondi,et al.  Microbiota Survey of Sliced Cooked Ham During the Secondary Shelf Life , 2022, Frontiers in Microbiology.

[6]  S. Raimondi,et al.  Phenotypic Traits and Immunomodulatory Properties of Leuconostoc carnosum Isolated From Meat Products , 2021, Frontiers in Microbiology.

[7]  Wei Chen,et al.  Integrated Phenotypic–Genotypic Analysis of Latilactobacillus sakei from Different Niches , 2021, Foods.

[8]  F. Leroy,et al.  The Microbiota of Modified-Atmosphere-Packaged Cooked Charcuterie Products throughout Their Shelf-Life Period, as Revealed by a Complementary Combination of Culture-Dependent and Culture-Independent Analysis , 2021, Microorganisms.

[9]  Moon Y. F. Tay,et al.  Comparative Genomics of Leuconostoc carnosum , 2021, Frontiers in Microbiology.

[10]  S. Chaillou,et al.  Large microbiota survey reveals how the microbial ecology of cooked ham is shaped by different processing steps. , 2020, Food microbiology.

[11]  Pere Gou,et al.  Radio frequency cooking of pork hams followed with conventional steam cooking , 2020 .

[12]  S. Raimondi,et al.  Microbiota of sliced cooked ham packaged in modified atmosphere throughout the shelf life: Microbiota of sliced cooked ham in MAP. , 2019, International journal of food microbiology.

[13]  Z. Zdráhal,et al.  Lactic acid bacteria in cooked hams - Sources of contamination and chances of survival in the product , 2016 .

[14]  F. Villani,et al.  Lactic acid bacteria and their controversial role in fresh meat spoilage. , 2015, Meat science.

[15]  L. Colla,et al.  Characterization of the spoilage lactic acid bacteria in “sliced vacuum-packed cooked ham” , 2015, Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology].

[16]  F. Devlieghere,et al.  Psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria associated with production batch recalls and sporadic cases of early spoilage in Belgium between 2010 and 2014. , 2014, International journal of food microbiology.

[17]  S. Lortal,et al.  Phenotypic traits of genetically closely related Leuconostoc spp. , 2014 .

[18]  P. de Vos,et al.  Psychrotrophic members of Leuconostoc gasicomitatum, Leuconostoc gelidum and Lactococcus piscium dominate at the end of shelf-life in packaged and chilled-stored food products in Belgium. , 2014, Food microbiology.

[19]  R Higuchi,et al.  Chelex 100 as a medium for simple extraction of DNA for PCR-based typing from forensic material. , 2013, BioTechniques.

[20]  F. Devlieghere,et al.  Total mesophilic counts underestimate in many cases the contamination levels of psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in chilled-stored food products at the end of their shelf-life. , 2012, Food microbiology.

[21]  Guang-hong Zhou,et al.  Effect of high pressure treatment on microbial populations of sliced vacuum-packed cooked ham. , 2011, Meat science.

[22]  F. Leroy,et al.  Technology-induced selection towards the spoilage microbiota of artisan-type cooked ham packed under modified atmosphere. , 2010, Food microbiology.

[23]  G. Falony,et al.  Volatile analysis of spoiled, artisan-type, modified-atmosphere-packaged cooked ham stored under different temperatures. , 2009, Food microbiology.

[24]  I. Cambero,et al.  Optimization of E-beam irradiation treatment to eliminate Listeria monocytogenes from ready-to-eat (RTE) cooked ham , 2007 .

[25]  J. Björkroth,et al.  Leuconostoc carnosum associated with spoilage of refrigerated whole cooked hams in Greece. , 2006, Journal of food protection.

[26]  N. Grébol,et al.  Microbial inactivation after high-pressure processing at 600 MPa in commercial meat products over its shelf life , 2004 .

[27]  F. Devlieghere,et al.  Evaluation of meat born lactic acid bacteria as protective cultures for the biopreservation of cooked meat products. , 2004, International journal of food microbiology.

[28]  V. Barkholt,et al.  Leuconostoc carnosum 4010 has the potential for use as a protective culture for vacuum-packed meats: culture isolation, bacteriocin identification, and meat application experiments. , 2003, International journal of food microbiology.

[29]  J. Samelis,et al.  Selective effect of the product type and the packaging conditions on the species of lactic acid bacteria dominating the spoilage microbial association of cooked meats at 4°C , 2000 .

[30]  P. Vandamme,et al.  Identification and Characterization ofLeuconostoc carnosum, Associated with Production and Spoilage of Vacuum-Packaged, Sliced, Cooked Ham , 1998, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[31]  K. Schleifer,et al.  Combined Molecular and Conventional Analyses of Nitrifying Bacterium Diversity in Activated Sludge: Nitrosococcus mobilis and Nitrospira-Like Bacteria as Dominant Populations , 1998, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[32]  J. Samelis,et al.  Evaluation of the extent and type of bacterial contamination at different stages of processing of cooked ham , 1998, Journal of applied microbiology.

[33]  S. Goodison,et al.  16S ribosomal DNA amplification for phylogenetic study , 1991, Journal of bacteriology.

[34]  Larry R. Beuchat,et al.  Food microbiology : fundamentals and frontiers , 2013 .

[35]  T. White.  Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics , 1990 .