The sensory acceptability of cooked meat products treated with a protective culture depends on glucose content and buffering capacity: A case study with Lactobacillus sakei 10A

Biopreservation has been proven to be a promising natural preservation technique, but the impact of protective cultures on the sensory properties of cooked meat products (CMP) is not well documented. This work presents a case study on the protective culture Lactobacillus sakei 10A to obtain a clear view on the real consequences of using protective cultures on the sensory quality of CMP. A preliminary screening study on 13 different CMP and more elaborate application trials at 7 °C on vacuum packaged pâté, cooked ham, cooked sausage and two cooked poultry products demonstrated that L. sakei 10A inhibits the endogenous LAB-flora, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Listeria monocytogenes. Despite these promising antagonistic effects, the application of L. sakei 10A to CMP was in some cases limited by a significant acidification resulting in an acid taste of the product. This was most obvious in pâté and cooked sausage and less obvious in cooked turkey fillet. From the results a hypothesis could be derived that high buffering capacity and low glucose content are key elements to avoid sensory deviations when applying protective cultures on CMP.