Bioprotective cultures

Abstract

Meat products and processed meats resulted from the need to preserve meat in ancient times. Preservative and palatability effects must have been discovered after mixing comminuted fresh meat with salt contaminated with nitrate, spices, or herbs, stuffing the mixture into animal intestines, and then drying it. Early humans were certainly aware of the preservative value of salt and drying, and therefore over the centuries they were able to develop cured products. Although bibliographical research traces the origin of fermented meat products to more than 2500 years ago in China, evidence of sausage production in Europe is first documented in ancient Greece, where it may have been encouraged by the existing climate conditions (Liepe, 1983). Knowledge of the preservation of meat (dry-cured ham and fermented sausages) was inherited by the Romans, and from them these products spread to Central, Eastern, and Northern European countries, as well as to America and Australia, where they are recognized as the heritage of European immigrants (Demeyer, 2004; Fadda & Vignolo, 2007). Consumer perception of food has changed throughout history. Before the 20th century, during the “survival food age,” humankind mostly lived for food. With the technological, scientific, communications, and transportation progress made during the 20th century, however, access to food was no longer a problem for sustainable societies. After World War II, convenience foods (ready-to-eat (RTE) and shelf-stable products) saw their beginnings in North America, while more recently, health-oriented food and nutraceuticals have become major consumer concerns, giving rise to the “functional food era” in the 21st century. Although concerns over food safety are increasing worldwide and are priority issues for governments, food processors, industry, traders, and consumers, quality is the ultimate criterion of desirability for any food product. The overall quality of a food depends on sensorial attributes, which are assessed both objectively and subjectively. Since consumers demand high-quality, preservative-free, safe, and minimally processed foods with extended shelf lives, and since legislation has restricted the use and the permitted levels of some approved preservatives in certain foods, both consumer and legislative needs call for innovative approaches to food preservation. Biological preservation has gained increasing attention as a means of naturally controlling the shelf life and safety of foods; thus, the use of bioprotective cultures to ensure the hygienic quality of food has become a promising tool. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been extensively exploited for thousands of years in the production of fermented foods, due both to their inhibitory capacity and their ability to produce desirable taste, flavor, and texture changes. Since LAB naturally dominate the microbiota of raw materials and fermented foods, they are assumed not to pose a health risk for humans (generally recognized as safe, (GRAS)).