Functional coagulase-negative staphylococci to improve quality and safety during meat fermentations

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are part of the technological microbiota during meat fermentation, where they contribute to colour and flavour. Although S. carnosus and/or S. xylosus are used as starter cultures, the diversity of the CNS community extends way beyond these two species and its rich metabolic potential seems underexploited. The present study aims at a better understanding of the competitiveness of different CNS species under diverse meat fermentation conditions, including "clean-label" approaches and "mild" processing. The prevailing CNS consortia will be mapped and monitored by an innovative culture-independent metagenetic setup. The impact on quality development will be assessed by a follow up of the generation of colour and flavouraffecting volatiles. Also, it will be investigated how the antibacterial potential of CNS could be exploited for the control of foodborne pathogens. A particular focus will be on Clostridium botulinum since this bacterium is increasingly of concern due to the market trends for milder processing and preservation, and clean label products. Little is known about the behaviour of C.
botulinum during meat fermentation, partially because research has been limited by the challenges to work with this organism. Therefore, atoxigenic C. botulinum variants will be constructed to permit a detailed evaluation of the mode of action of antibacterial compounds by CNS and their impact during meat fermentation.