Protective cultures against foodborne pathogens in a nitrite reduced fermented meat product

In the present work, a combined hurdle approach for fermented meat preservation was investigated. Challenge tests were performed in Chorizo sausage model using the maximum allowed NaNO2 amount (150 mg/kg), a reduced amount (75 mg/kg) and no nitrite, with and without protective cultures inoculation. Cocktail strains of L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. were used as indicator strains. In a nitrite reduced sausage model, L. monocytogenes growing trend did not significantly change (p > 0.05) when compared with that containing higher nitrite concentration (150 mg/kg NaNO2). The addition of L. plantarum PSC20 significantly lowered L. monocytogenes growth when compared with control batches without PCS20 (p < 0.05), obtaining 3.84 log cfu/g and 2.62 log cfu/g lower counts in the batches with 150 mg/kg NaNO2 and 75 mg/kg NaNO2 respectively. None of the protective cultures demonstrated in situ antagonistic activity against Salmonella spp. This work pointed out that the reduction of nitrites with the combined use of a protective culture could be a feasible approach to control L. monocytogenes growth in fermented meat foods.