The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of the contamination level of fresh meat on the bacterial population in raw material before cooking and on the microbiota of cooked hams following heat treatment. The effect of incubation temperatures of 6.5 and 15 °C on the results obtained was also evaluated during the bacteriological investigation. The total viable count (TVC), the number of Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were determined in the samples. LAB were isolated from 13 samples out of the 50 fresh meat samples. The species most frequently detected included Latilactobacillus sakei, Leuconostoc carnosum, Enterococcus gilvus, Latilactobacillus curvatus, and Leuconostoc gelidum. The meat sampled after the brine injection and tumbler massaging showed higher bacterial counts compared to fresh meat samples (p < 0.001). The heat treatment destroyed the majority of the bacteria, as the bacterial counts were beneath the limit of detection with a few exceptions. Although the primary cultivation of samples of cooked hams did not reveal the presence of LAB, their presence was confirmed in 11 out of 12 samples by a stability test. Bacteria of the genus Leuconostoc were the most numerous.

Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Animal Origin Food and Gastronomic Sciences Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology University of Veterinary Sciences Brno 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Raimondi S., Luciani R., Sirangelo T.M., Amaretti A., Leonardi A., Ulrici A., Foca G., D’Auria G., Moya A., Zuliani V., et al. Microbiota of sliced cooked ham packed in modified atmosphere throughout the shelf life. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2019;289:200–208. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2018.09.017. PubMed DOI

Vasilopoulos C., De Vuyst L., Leroy F. Shelf-life reduction as an emerging problem in cooked hams underlines the need for improved preservation strategies. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 2015;55:1425–1443. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2012.695413. PubMed DOI

Roccato A., Uyttendaele M., Cibin V., Barrucci F., Cappa V., Zavagnin P., Longo A., Ricci A. Survival of Salmonella Typhimurium in poultry-based meat preparations during grilling, frying and baking. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2015;197:1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.12.007. PubMed DOI

Martins W.F., Longhi D.A., de Aragão G.M.F., Melero B., Rovira J., Diez A.M. A mathematical modeling approach to the quantification of lactic acid bacteria in vakuum packaged samples of cooked meat: Combining the TaqMan-based quantitative PCR method with the plate-count method. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2020;318:e108466. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.108466. PubMed DOI

Samelis J., Kakouri A., Rementzis J. Selective effect of the product type and the packaging conditions on the species of lactic acid bacteria dominating the spoilage microbial association of cooked meats at 4 °C. Food Microbiol. 2000;17:329–340. doi: 10.1006/fmic.1999.0316. DOI

Vermeiren L., Devlieghere F., De Graef V., Debevere J. In vitro and in situ growth characteristics and behaviour of spoilage organisms associated with anaerobically stored cooked meat products. J. Appl. Microbiol. 2005;98:33–42. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2004.02443.x. PubMed DOI

Audenaert K., D´Haene K., Messens K., Ruyssen T., Vandamme P., Huys G. Diversity of lactic acid bacteria from modified atmosphere packaged sliced cooked meat products at sell-by date assessed by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Food Microbiol. 2010;27:12–18. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2009.04.006. PubMed DOI

Vasilopoulos C., De Maere H., De Mey E., Paelinck H., De Vuyst L., Leroy F. Technology-induced selection towards the spoilage microbiota of artisan-type cooked ham packed under modified atmosphere. Food Microbiol. 2010;27:77–84. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2009.08.008. PubMed DOI

Kameník J., Bogdanovičová K., Dorotíková K. Haltbarkeit von geschnittenem Kochschinken in modifizierter Atmosphäre. Fleischwirtschaft. 2019;99:118–122.

Dušková M., Kameník J., Lačanin I., Šedo O., Zdráhal Z. Lactic acid bacteria in cooked hams: Sources of contamination and chances of survival in the product. Food Control. 2016;61:1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.09.019. DOI

Pothakos V., Samapundo S., Devlieghere F. Total mesophilic counts underestimate in many cases the contamination levels of psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in chilled-stored food products at the end of their shelf-life. Food Microbiol. 2012;32:437–443. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2012.07.011. PubMed DOI

Dušková M., Šedo O., Kšicová K., Zdráhal Z., Karpíšková R. Identification of lactobacilli isolated from food by genotypic methods and MALDI-TOF MS. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2012;159:107–114. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2012.07.029. PubMed DOI

Freiwald A., Sauer S. Phylogenetic classification and identification of bacteria by mass spectrometry. Nat. Protoc. 2009;4:732–742. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2009.37. PubMed DOI

Shao L., Chen S., Wang H., Zhang J., Xu X., Wang H. Advances in understanding the predominance, phenotypes, and mechanisms of bacteria related to meat spoilage. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 2021;118:822–832. doi: 10.1016/j.tifs.2021.11.007. DOI

Zheng J., Wittouck S., Salvetti E., Franz C.M.A.P., Harris H.M.B., Mattarelli P., O’Toole P.W., Pot B., Vandamme P., Walter J., et al. A taxonomic note on the genus Lactobacillus: Description of 23 novel genera, emended description of the genus Lactobacillus Beijerinck 1901, and union of Lactobacillaceae and Leuconostocaceae. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2020;70:2782–2858. doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.004107. PubMed DOI

Wu V.C.H. A review of microbial injury and recovery methods in food. Food Microbiol. 2008;25:735–744. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2008.04.011. PubMed DOI

Zaika L.L. Influence of NaCl content and cooling rate on outgrowth of Clostridium perfringens spores in cooked ham and beef. J. Food Prot. 2003;66:1599–1603. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-66.9.1599. PubMed DOI

Tamkutė L., Gil B.M., Carballido J.R., Pukalskienė M., Venskutonis P.R. Effect of cranberry pomace extracts isolated by pressurized ethanol and water on the inhibition of food pathogenic/spoilage bacteria and the quality of pork products. Food Res. Int. 2019;120:38–51. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.02.025. PubMed DOI

Zagdoun M., Coeuret G., N´Dione M., Champomier-Vergès M.-C., Chaillou S. Large microbiota survey reveals how the microbial ekology of cooked ham is shaped by different processing steps. Food Microbiol. 2020;91:e103547. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2020.103547. PubMed DOI

Pothakos V., Devlieghere F., Villani F., Björkroth J., Ercolini D. Lactic acid bacteria and their controversial role in fresh meat spoilage. Meat Sci. 2015;109:66–74. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2015.04.014. PubMed DOI

Pothakos V., Snauwaert C., De Vos P., Huys G., Devlieghere F. Monitoring psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria contamination in a ready-to-eat vegetable salad production environment. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2014;185:7–16. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.05.009. PubMed DOI

Geeraerts W., Pothakos V., De Vuyst L., Leroy F. Variability within the dominant microbiota of sliced cooked poultry products at expiration date in the Belgian retail. Food Microbiol. 2018;73:209–215. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2018.01.019. PubMed DOI

Geeraerts W., Borremans W., De Vuyst L., Leroy F., Van Kerrebroeck S. The application of selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry to follow volatile formation in modified-atmosphere-packaged cooked ham. Food Res. Int. 2019;123:601–611. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.05.035. PubMed DOI

Leroy F., Vasilopoulos C., Van Hemelryck S., Falony G., De Vuyst L. Volatile analysis of spoiled, artisan-type, modified-atmosphere-packed cooked ham stored under different temperatures. Food Microbiol. 2009;26:94–102. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2008.08.005. PubMed DOI

Comi G., Iacumin L. Identification and process origin of bacteria responsible for cavities and volatile off-flavour compounds in artisan cooked ham. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 2012;47:114–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2011.02816.x. DOI

Geeraerts W., Pothakos V., De Vuyst L., Leroy F. Diversity of the dominant bacterial species on sliced cooked pork products at expiration date in the Belgian retail. Food Microbiol. 2017;65:236–243. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2017.03.007. PubMed DOI

Microbiology of the Food Chain-Horizontal Method for the Enumeration of Psychrotrophic Microorganisms. Association Française De Normalization; Saint-Denis, France: 2019.