Technology and safety assessment for lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Bulgarian fermented meat product "lukanka"

Abstract The present work discusses the technological and new selection criteria that should be included for selecting lactic acid bacteria for production of fermented meat. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from Bulgarian traditional fermented "lulanka" salami was studied regarding some positive technological parameters (growth at different temperature, pH, and proteolytic activity). The presence of genes related to the virulence factors, production of biogenic amines, and vancomycin resistance were presented in low frequency in the studied lactic acid bacteria. On the other hand, production of antimicrobial peptides and high spread of bacteriocin genes were broadly presented. Very strong activity against L. monocytogenes was detected in some of the studied lactic acid bacteria. In addition, the studied strains did not present any antimicrobial activity against tested closely related bacteria such as Lactobacillus spp., Lactococcus spp., Enterococcus spp. or Pediococcus spp. To our knowledge this is the first study on the safety and antimicrobial properties of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Bulgarian lukanka obtained by spontaneous fermentation.

Antibiotic resistance in lactic acid bacteria isolated from some pharmaceutical and dairy products

A total of 244 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains were isolated from 180 dairy and pharmaceutical products that were collected from different areas in Minia governorate, Egypt. LAB were identified phenotypically on basis of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics. Lactobacillus isolates were further confirmed using PCR-based assay. By combination of phenotypic with molecular identification Lactobacillus spp. were found to be the dominant genus (138, 76.7%) followed by Streptococcus spp. (65, 36.1%) and Lactococcus spp. (27, 15%). Some contaminant organisms such as (Staphylococcus spp., Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., mould and yeast) were isolated from the collected dairy samples but pharmaceutical products were free of such contaminants. Susceptibility of LAB isolates to antibiotics representing all major classes was tested by agar dilution method. Generally, LAB were highly susceptible to Beta-lactams except penicillin. Lactobacilli were resistant to vancomycin, however lactococci and streptococci proved to be very susceptible. Most strains were susceptible to tetracycline and showed a wide range of streptomycin MICs. The MICs of erythromycin and clindamycin for most of the LAB were within the normal range of susceptibility. Sixteen Lactobacillus,8 Lactococcus and 8 Streptococcus isolates including all tetracycline and/or erythromycin resistant strains were tested for the presence of tetracycline and/or erythromycin resistant genes [tet(M) and/or erm(B)]. PCR assays shows that some resistant strains harbor tet(M) and/or erm(B) resistance genes.