Handbook of Meat Processing

Functional Meat Products 433

capsulation technique for protecting probi-

otic bacteria during sausage processing.

Most studies on utilization of probiotic

strains for meat fermentation have focused

on the growth of bacteria in meat and their

infl uence on the sensory properties and inac-

tivation of pathogenic bacteria. Bunte et al.

(2000) and Jahreis et al. (2002) carried out

studies on the utilization of probiotic lacto-

bacilli for moist types of sausages. Their

studies using healthy volunteers demon-

strated that the ingestion of such products

fermented with probiotic strains of L. para-

casei LTH2579 had some benefi cial physio-

logical effects. The levels of CD4 T helper

cells were elevated and the phagocytosis

index increased after ingestion of the product.

Further assessment of the relationship

between ingestion of meat products with pro-

biotic bacteria and human health are needed

from various viewpoints.

Prebiotics and Synbiotics

In addition to probiotics, much attention

has been paid to prebiotics in the food indus-

try. Prebiotics is initially defi ned as “ non -

digestible food ingredients that benefi cially

oped a salami product containing intestinal
bacterial strains ( Lactobacillus casei ,
Lactobacillus casei , Bifi dobacterium spp.) in

1998. In the same year, a Japanese producer
      also launched a meatspread product (Fig.
      24.6 ) fermented with intestinal lactobacilli
      ( L. rhamnosus FERM P - 15120). L. rhamno-
      sus FERM P - 15120 has been screened from
      the collection of human intestinal lactobacilli
      (Sameshima et al. 1998 ).
      Arihara et al. (1998) have shown that L.
      gasseri JCM1131 is applicable for meat fer-
      mentation as a potentially probiotic strain.
      Erkkil ä et al. (2000, 2001a, b) tested the
      applicability of probiotic strains L. rhamno-
      sus GG, LC - 705 and VTT - 97800 to dry
      sausage fermentation. They found that strains
      GG and E - 97800 are suitable for use as
      probiotic starter cultures in fermenting dry
      sausage. Furthermore, several studies dem-
      onstrated the possibility of utilizing probiotic
      strains of lactic acid bacteria and bifi dobac-
      teria for meat products (Leroy et al. 2006 ;
      Pennacchia et al. 2004, 2006 ; Klingberg
      et al. 2005 ; Klingberg and Budde 2006 ;
      Rebucci et al. 2007 ; Ruiz - Moyano et al.
      2008 ). Muthukumarasamy and Holly ( 2006 ,
      2007 ) studied the effectiveness of a microen-

Figure 24.6. Fermented meat spread product “ Breadton, ” utilizing the intestinal lactobacilli (Prima Meat
Packers, Ltd., Japan).