Am. Fiorentini et al., Influence of bacteriocins produced by Lactobacillus plantarum BN in the shelf-life of refrigerated bovine meat, BRAZ J MICR, 32(1), 2001, pp. 42-46
Sugar cane molasses is a cheap by-product of the sugar cane industry. This
product was used for growth and production of bacteriocins by Lactobacillus
plantarum BN and evaluated for its potential application in the extension
of the shelf-life of raw meat Bovine meat cubes were dipped in the filtered
and neutralized supernatant of the fermented broth (Treatment A) and store
d at 5 degreesC. Counts of psychrotrophic and mesophilic aerobic microorgan
isms, pH determination and total acidity were performed on meat cubes after
0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 days. These determinations were also done in cubes d
ipped in a 6% lactic acid solution (treatment B) and distilled water (treat
ment C). After 3 days, the counts of psychrotrophic microorganisms in cubes
submitted to treatment A, B and C increased 0.38, 1.42 and 2.04 log cycles
, respectively. The same happened with mesophilic microorganisms (0.31, 0.3
3 and 1.04 log cycles increases, respectively). On the sixth day, the psych
rotrophic population in samples submitted to treatments A and B were 2.07 a
nd 0.64 log cycles, respectively, lower than in the control samples (treatm
ent C). Mesophilic microorganisms in these samples were 1.58 and 1.12 log c
ycles, respectively, lower than the controls. On the sixth day, only sample
s submitted to treatment A presented lower counts than those recommended by
ICMSF as quality standards for raw meat (< 10(7) CFU/g). After nine days o
f storage under refrigeration, samples submitted to treatment A still maint
ained acceptable quality. From the twelfth day on, all samples exceeded the
microbial quality limits. These results indicate that dipping of raw meat
in filtered sugar cane molasses containing bacteriocins produced by L plant
arum BN may be an interesting technological option to extend the shelf life
of refrigerated bovine meat.