200 Chapter 10
natural diversity of wild strains that occur in
traditional artisan foods is being explored.
These approaches permit rapid high - through-
put screening of promising wild strains, with
interesting functional properties that lack
negative characteristics to develop starter
cultures based on indigenous technological
bacteria of traditional sausages, since these
strains are well adapted to the environment
(Villani et al. 2007 ; Talon et al. 2008 ).Bacterial Starter Cultures for
Meat Fermentations
Lactic acid bacteria play a major role in the
microbial consortium of fermented and cured
meat: they affect both the technological prop-
erties and the microbial stability of the fi nal
product through the production of lactic and
acetic acids, and the consequent pH decrease.
At pH values of 4.6 – 5.9, muscle proteins
coagulate and lose their water - holding capac-
ity. This results in an improvement in the
fi nal product ’ s sliceability, fi rmness, and
cohesiveness. Ripening is also favored at this
acidic environment, as well as color develop-
ment. Moreover, the accumulation of lactic
and acetic acids inhibits growth of spoilage
and pathogenic microorganisms. Gram -
positive catalase - positive cocci also have a
relevant role in the manufacture of fermented
sausages. They enhance color stability,
prevent rancidity, reduce spoilage, decrease
processing time, and contribute to fl avor
development. Yeasts and molds are used
mainly for fl avor development, the fi rst
through carbohydrate fermentation and the
latter by lactate oxidation, proteolysis, degra-
dation of amino acids, and lipolysis (Hugas
and Monfort 1997 ; L ü cke 2000 ).
Actually, most of the commercially avail-
able meat starter cultures contain mixtures of
LAB ( Lactobacillus and Pediococcus ) and
GCC+ ( Staphylococcus and Kocuria ). These
bacterial groups are responsible for basic
microbial reactions that occur simultane-
ously during fermentation. Table 10.1 listsThe aim of this chapter is to provide the
most recent information on bacterial inocu-
lants and their potential functionalities,
explaining how they can improve the quality
of fermented meat products.
Starter Cultures for
Fermented Meats
History
Research on the use of starter cultures in
meat products began in the United States in
the 1940s, inoculating the batter with lacto-
bacilli, with the aim being to govern and
accelerate fermentation. In the late fi fties,
the Finn Niinivaara (1955) helped to launch
this idea in Europe, developing mixed cul-
tures of Micrococcus sp. and Pediococcus
cerevisiae. After this experience, a fi rst gen-
eration of meat starter bacterial cultures,
generally based on microorganisms derived
from cultures for vegetable fermentation,
was developed. These bacterial cultures,
mainly selected for their acidifi cation
pro perties, were usually composed of L.
plantarum and members of the genus
Pediococcus. Successively, a new generation
of starter cultures composed of strains iso-
lated from meat, such as L. sakei and coa-
gulase negative staphylococci (CNS), was
developed that harbored phenotypic traits
of technological relevance (Buckenh ü skes
1994 ). This second generation is now widely
used in the industrial processes of fermented
meat production.
In the last years, more efforts have been
dedicated to the study of technological
properties of LAB and staphylococci isolated
from traditional fermented sausages to
develop functional starter cultures, with
increased diversity, stability, and industrial
performance (Garc í a - Varona et al. 2000 ;
Mauriello et al. 2004 ; Casaburi et al. 2005 ;
Drosinos et al. 2007 ). Using comparative
genomics, microarray analysis, transcrip-
tomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, the