<i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> (KACC 92189) as a Potential Probiotic Starter Culture for Quality Improvement of Fermented Sausages.

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fermenting temperature on the applicability of <i>Lactobacillus</i><i>plantarum</i> for production of fermented sausages as starter cultures, and its applicable efficiency was also compared with those inoculated with commercial starter culture or non-inoculated control. The <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i> isolated from a naturally-fermented meat, identified by 16S rDNA sequencing and again identified by <i>de</i><i>novo</i> Assembly Analysis method was used as a starter culture. Six treatments: 3 with <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i> at different fermenting temperatures (20, 25 and 30°C), and other 3 treatments (1 with commercial starter culture, 1 with its mixture with <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i> and 1 non-inoculated control) fermented under the same conditions (25°C) were prepared. Results revealed that the fermenting temperature considerably affected the pH change in samples added with <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i>; the highest pH drop rate (1.57 unit) was obtained on the samples fermented at 30°C, followed by those at 25°C (1.3 unit) and 20°C (0.99 unit) after 4 days fermentation. Increasing the temperature up to 30°C resulted in significantly lower spoilage bacteria count (5.15 log CFU/g) and lipid oxidation level in the products inoculated with <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i>. The sensory analysis also showed that the samples added with <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i> at 30°C had significantly higher odor, taste and acceptability scores than those fermented at lower temperatures. Under the same processing condition, although the <i>L</i>. <i>plantarum</i> showed slightly lower acidification than the commercial starter culture, however, it significantly improved the eating quality of the product.