Lactic acid bacteria in meat fermentation

Abstract

Traditionally, fermentation of meat was considered a method to extend the shelf life of this highly perishable commodity; however, its significance has recently increased as a way of transformation and diversification of meat products. Even when the historical origin of fermented meat products remains unknown, fragmentary bibliographical research traces it back to more than 2500 years in China. Many of these products are known in Europe since the 13th–14th centuries after being introduced by Marco Polo. Proofs of sausage production were first documented in ancient Greece; this tradition was then inherited by the Romans (Zeuthen 2007). From these times, fermented sausages have spread to central, eastern, and northern European countries, as well as to America and Australia where it is recognized as a European immigrants heritage (Demeyer 2004; Fadda and Vignolo 2007; Vignolo et al. 2010a). There is renewed interest in traditional, naturally fermented meat products as outlined by the recent abundant literature (Vignolo et al. 2010a,b). The remarkable technological advances and significant improvements in meat hygiene that occurred in the last 50 years have been capitalized for the development of a range of fermented meat products, in which variations in the type and amount of raw materials, fermentation, and drying conditions lead to an extended diversity of products with unique sensorial traits. Nevertheless, the stability of fermented meat products is mainly determined by a combination of acidification brought about by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and lowering of water activity (aw) during curing and drying. In addition, biochemical and physicochemical changes are produced as a result of the interactions between meat, fat, microorganisms, and processing technology, which as a whole gives rise to the wide range of available fermented sausages. In view of industrially useful innovations, the LAB community existing in fermented meat ecosystems as well as their contribution to the microbiological and physicochemical changes are discussed here.