Microbial population dynamics during the processing of Arbequina table olives

Arbequina table olives are produced according to a traditional process involving an spontaneous fermentation in brine. The aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time the different microorganism populations in brine during the processing of Arbequina table olives.Yeasts were the main organisms involved in fermentation but lactic acid bacteria were important when the olives were being matured before packaging. The main yeast species identified were Candida boidinii, Candida diddensiae, Candida membranaefaciens, Kluyveromyces lactis, Pichia kluyveri, Pichia membranaefaciens and Rhodotolura glutinis. Lactobacillus pentosus and Lactobacillus paraplantarum were the species of lactic acid bacteria involved in the process. Some of the microbial species identified in this work have not been previously reported in the fermentation processes of table olives. Moreover, no relevant differences in microbial species diversity were observed at different depths of the vat. Nevertheless, the development of lactic acid bacteria was delayed in deep brine.