SCIENTIFIC SUBSTANTIATION AND APPLICATION OF PROBIOTIC CULTURES IN FERMENTED MEAT PRODUCTS TECHNOLOGY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31548/humanhealth.4.2026.66Keywords:
snack meat products, proteolytic activity, starter cultures, microbiological safety, biochemical degradation of proteins, suppression of pathogenic microfloraAbstract
Ensuring the microbiological stability of fermented meat products through the application of starter cultures is an important objective in improving meat snack production technologies. The study aimed to determine the effects of Staphylococcus carnosus and Staphylococcus xylosus cultures incorporated into the Italflora PCS 33 preparation at a concentration of 0.013% on the microbiological characteristics and water activity of turkey and beef meat chips during storage. Experimental samples were produced with the addition of bacterial cultures, whereas control samples were prepared without them. The technological procedures included marination at 2–4°C for 10–12 hours and drying at 35°C. Microbiological methods were applied to determine microbial counts, while water activity was measured instrumentally. The products were stored at temperatures of 5–22°C and relative humidity not exceeding 75%. The results demonstrated that coliform bacteria in 1.0 g, Staphylococcus aureus, sulfite-reducing clostridia in 0.01 g, and Salmonella in 25.0 g of product were not detected in any samples throughout the 60-day storage period. The total count of mesophilic aerobic and facultatively anaerobic microorganisms did not exceed 1.0 × 10⁶ colony-forming units per gram. On day 60, lactic acid bacteria count in the experimental samples ranged from 3.1 × 10⁴ to 5.9 × 10⁴ colony-forming units per gram, compared with 2.0 × 10² to 4.0 × 10² in the controls. Coagulase-negative staphylococci count ranged from 5.8 × 10³ to 2.2 × 10⁴, compared with 1.0 × 10² to 2.0 × 10² colony-forming units per gram in the control samples. Water activity ranged from 0.645 to 0.781 and remained below the threshold value of 0.85. This parameter was 0.073 higher in the experimental samples than in the controls, indicating the need for further investigation into the effects of bacterial cultures on the products' water-binding properties. The findings confirm the microbiological stability of the investigated meat chips over 60 days and may support the justification of their shelf life under the specified storage conditions.
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