Autochthonous probiotics in meat products: selection, identification, and their use as starter culture
DATE:
2020-11-21
UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER: http://hdl.handle.net/11093/3476
EDITED VERSION: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/11/1833
UNESCO SUBJECT: 3309.21 Alimentos Proteínicos ; 2302.90 Bioquímica de Alimentos ; 3309 Tecnología de Los Alimentos
DOCUMENT TYPE: article
ABSTRACT
The increasing demand for functional food is pushing the food industry to innovate the conventional and well-known foods. Producing functional foods, especially with probiotics in meat products, is an intricate and multistage task that involves: the selection of microorganisms with probiotic potential, the identification at strain level, and the evaluation of probiotic strains in the processing of meat products. The resistance to digestion, followed by the successful colonization in the small intestine and the safety are the main criteria used to select and identify (at strain level) a probiotic, as reported in recent studies about the autochthonous microbiota of meat products. Further insertion (as starter culture) in a meat system for fermentation is the simplest approach to obtain a probiotic meat product. Among the innumerous microorganisms naturally found in meat products, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) play a central role by fitting in both probiotic and meat products processing criteria.