210 Chapter 10
bile resistance, from fi nished products
(Papamanoli et al. 2003 ; Pennacchia et al.
2004 ). This approach requires an extensive
study of the isolates for other benefi cial prop-
erties, such as intestinal colonization poten-
tial and inhibitory activity against pathogenic
bacteria.
Commercial probiotic cultures, such as
strains L. rhamnosus GG, L. rhamnosus LC -
705, L. rhamnosus E - 97800, and L. planta-
rum E - 98098, have been tested as functional
starter culture strains in northern European
sausage fermentation without negatively
affecting the technological or sensory proper-
ties, with the exception of L. rhamnosus
LC - 705 (Erkkil ä et al. 2001 ). Klingberg
et al. (2005) identifi ed L. plantarum and
L. pentosus strains, originating from the
dominant NSLAB of fermented meat pro-
ducts, as promising candidates for probiotic
meat starter cultures suitable for the manu-
facture of the Scandinavian - type fermented
sausage.
It is worthwhile to mention that in the
European Union there is specifi c regulation
(EC No 1924/2006) aimed at ensuring
that any health claim made on a food
label is clear, accurate, and scientifi cally
substantiated.Safety of Selected Bacterial
Starter Cultures
Members of the genus Lactobacillus and
Pediococcus are generally considered non-
pathogenic for the consumer. The safety of
these two bacterial genera has recently been
assessed by EFSA in the risk - assessment
approach named Qualifi ed Presumption
of Safety (EFSA 2008 ). However, risk
factors could be the production of biogenic
amines or the presence of transmissible
determinants for the antibiotic resistance.
The Staphylococcus genus also encompasses
several species responsible for infections or
intoxications. For this reason, the production
of enterotoxins and the presence of acquiredAlthough dairy products are the most
commonly used food vehicles for delivery
of probiotics, the future of dry - fermented
sausages in this fi eld has been termed “ prom-
ising ” (Incze 1998 ). The probiotic culture
should be well adapted to the conditions
of the fermented sausage in order to domi-
nate in the fi nal product, competing with
other bacterial populations from meat and
from the starter culture. In addition, the
culture should not develop off - fl avors in the
fi nal product.
The potential for dry - fermented sausages
to serve as a vehicle for probiotic organisms
has been comprehensively reviewed by
Ty ö pp ö nen et al. (2003). Most of the studies
discussed in this review relied on the fermen-
tative abilities of the probiotic organisms
used, so the selection of probiotics was
limited to organisms that were capable of
fermenting carbohydrates in meat.
Various studies have shown that probiotic
organisms have poor survival in fermented
foods such as yoghurt, fermented milks, and
dry - fermented sausages (Kailasapathy and
Rybka 1997 ; L ü cke 2000 ; Shah 2000 ;
Shah and Ravula 2000 ; Erkkil ä et al. 2001 ).
Dry - fermented sausages with their low a w
and pH, plus curing salts and competing
organisms, would seem to present a challeng-
ing environment for the survival of probiotics
during processing. Kearney et al. (1990)
was the fi rst to report the use of microen-
capsulation in alginate to protect starter cul-
tures during meat fermentation. Recently,
Muthukumarasamy and Holley (2006) used
microencapsulation technology as a means to
protect a recognized probiotic organism ( L.
reuteri ) from the harsh environment during
sausage processing. Based on their results,
the authors suggest that microencapsulation
may be an option for formulation of fer-
mented meat products with viable health -
promoting bacteria. Another approach for
selecting bioprotective and probiotic cultures
for use in dry - fermented sausages involved
the isolation of LAB, which possess acid and