Manufacture of a Potential Antifungal Ingredient Using Lactic Acid Bacteria from Dry-Cured Sausages

Reformulation of Tunisian Sun-Dried Merguez with Camel Meat: Characterization of Physicochemical and Compositional Changes in Organic Acids, Fatty Acids, Volatile Compounds, and Minerals

Traditional sun-dried merguez is an authentic Tunisian dried sausage made with a large number of spices and herbs, which was reformulated in this study with camel meat and hump fat and dried as in the artisanal process. This research studied the physicochemical, microbiological, and chemical compositional changes that occurred in fresh camel merguez (FCM) after 12 days of drying to achieve traditional dried camel merguez (DCM). The results showed significant weight loss (54.1%), as well as significant decreases in pH (5.20-4.97), moisture (60.5-12.3%), and water activity (0.986-0.673). These results and the acceptable microbiological quality of DCM can explain the safety of traditionally practiced long-term storage at room temperature. All chemical compositions increased upon drying. The composition of DCM included several organic acids, mainly lactate (2820 mg.kg-1); diverse unsaturated fatty acids, in particular oleic acid (33.2%); and various minerals, specifically iron (8 mg per 100 g), in addition to volatile compounds impacted by herbs and spices rich in terpenes (56.3%). These results can be useful for investing in indigenous products and promoting the exploitation of camel meat.

In vitro safety and functional characterization of the novel Bacillus coagulans strain CGI314

Introduction

Bacillus coagulans species have garnered much interest in health-related functional food research owing to their desirable probiotic properties, including pathogen exclusion, antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and food fermentation capabilities coupled with their tolerance of extreme environments (pH, temperature, gastric and bile acid resistance) and stability due to their endosporulation ability.

Methods

In this study, the novel strain Bacillus coagulans CGI314 was assessed for safety, and functional probiotic attributes including resistance to heat, gastric acid and bile salts, the ability to adhere to intestinal cells, aggregation properties, the ability to suppress the growth of human pathogens, enzymatic profile, antioxidant capacity using biochemical and cell-based methods, cholesterol assimilation, anti-inflammatory activity, and attenuation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced disruption of the intestinal-epithelial barrier.

Results

B. coagulans CGI314 spores display resistance to high temperatures (40°C, 70°C, and 90°C), and gastric and bile acids [pH 3.0 and bile salt (0.3%)], demonstrating its ability to survive and remain viable under gastrointestinal conditions. Spores and the vegetative form of this strain were able to adhere to a mucous-producing intestinal cell line, demonstrated moderate auto-aggregation properties, and could co-aggregate with potentially pathogenic bacteria. Vegetative cells attenuated LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression in HT-29 intestinal cell lines and demonstrated broad antagonistic activity toward numerous urinary tract, intestinal, oral, and skin pathogens. Metabolomic profiling demonstrated its ability to synthesize several amino acids, vitamins and short-chain fatty acids from the breakdown of complex molecules or by de novo synthesis. Additionally, B. coagulans CGI314's strong antioxidant capacity was demonstrated using enzyme-based methods and was further supported by its cytoprotective and antioxidant effects in HepG2 and HT-29 cell lines. Furthermore, B. coagulans CGI314 significantly increased the expression of tight junction proteins and partially ameliorated the detrimental effects of H2O2 induced intestinal-epithelial barrier integrity.

Discussion

Taken together these beneficial functional properties provide strong evidence for B. coagulans CGI314 as a promising potential probiotic candidate in food products.

Perspectives on the Probiotic Potential of Indigenous Moulds and Yeasts in Dry-Fermented Sausages

The role of indigenous fungi in the appropriate development of sensory properties and the safety of dry-fermented sausages has been widely established. Nonetheless, their applications as probiotic agents have not been elucidated in such products yet, despite their promising functional features. Thus, it should be interesting to evaluate the probiotic potential of native Debaryomyces hansenii isolates from dry-fermented sausages and their application in the meat industry, because it is the most frequently isolated yeast species from these foodstuffs and its probiotic effects for animals as well as its possible probiotic activity for human beings have been demonstrated. Within the functional ability of foodborne yeasts, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antigenotoxic, and immunomodulatory properties have been reported. Similarly, the use of dry-fermented sausages as vehicles for probiotic moulds remains a challenge because the survival and development of moulds in the gastrointestinal tract are still unknown. Nevertheless, some moulds have been isolated from faeces possibly from their spores as a form of resistance. Additionally, their beneficial effects on animals and humans, such as the decrease in lipid content and the anti-inflammatory activity, have been reported, although they seem to be more related to their postbiotic capacity due to the generated bioactive compounds with profunctional attributes than to their role as probiotics. Therefore, further studies providing knowledge useful for generating dry-fermented sausages with improved functionality are fully necessary.

Biocontrol of Pathogen Microorganisms in Ripened Foods of Animal Origin

Ripened foods of animal origin comprise meat products and dairy products, being transformed by the wild microbiota which populates the raw materials, generating highly appreciated products over the world. Together with this beneficial microbiota, both pathogenic and toxigenic microorganisms such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium botulinum, Escherichia coli, Candida spp., Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus spp., can contaminate these products and pose a risk for the consumers. Thus, effective strategies to hamper these hazards are required. Additionally, consumer demand for clean label products is increasing. Therefore, the manufacturing sector is seeking new efficient, natural, low-environmental impact and easy to apply strategies to counteract these microorganisms. This review gathers different approaches to maximize food safety and discusses the possibility of their being applied or the necessity of new evidence, mainly for validation in the manufacturing product and its sensory impact, before being implemented as preventative measures in the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point programs.