Sucuk, Turkish-Style Fermented Sausage: Evaluation of the Effect of Bioprotective Starter Cultures on Its Microbiological, Physicochemical, and Chemical Properties

Bio-protection is one of the most popular natural protection methods to control food safety and shelf life. Lactic acid bacteria, especially Lactobacilli strains, are used in the food industry for this purpose due to their probiotic properties and, accordingly, bioprotective properties. We aimed to investigate the role of the bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus sakei and Pediococcus acidilactici in inducing microbiological, physicochemical, and chemical changes in the Turkish-style fermented sausage sucuk. The effects of protective cultures were compared with those of commercial starter cultures consisting of Pediococcus pentosaceus + Staphylococcus carnosus; a non-cultured group was used as a control. L. sakei inoculation and, to a lower extent, P. acidilactici inoculation resulted in the rapid domination of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the environment, whereas commercially used starter cultures and the non-cultured group showed lower counts of LAB. Moreover, L. sakei and P. acidilactici succeeded in inhibiting pathogens including S. aureus, E. coli, and Enterobacteriaceae. The number of enterococci decreased notably in the L. sakei-inoculated sucuk samples; however, an increase was determined in the samples inoculated with P. acidilactici. On the other side, the effect of commercial starter cultures was not sufficient for the inhibition of food-borne pathogens in the sucuk samples. Consequently, the inoculation of protective cultures, particularly of L. sakei, can provide a considerable contribution to improving microbial quality and food safety, retarding lipid oxidation, and increasing proteolytic activities in sucuk without important changes in its sensory properties. © 2024 by the authors.