Enhancing the Microbial Quality of Fermented Sausage Using Lactobacillus plantarum Cell Free Supernatant (CFS)

Fermented sausages are vulnerable to microbial contamination, which poses significant risks to meat safety if beneficial bacteria from starter cultures fail to inhibit pathogens during production and storage. So, the use of cell-free supernatent (CFS) from Lactobacillus plantarum offers an effective strategy to enhance microbial safety. Therefore, the current study was conducted to assess the impact of L. plantarum CFS (1.5 and 3.0% v/w) on the chemical stability i.e. pH values, and the microbiological quality of fermented sausage during refrigeration. Results revealed rapid raising of pH values of control group where it reached 6.16 in the 27th day of refrigeration; whereas, it was 5.70 and 5.56 in the treated groups with 1.5% and 3.0% CFS, respectively. A rapid initial reduction in the bacterial counts, represented by the aerobic plate count, coliform, staphylococcus and psychrotrophic bacteria, followed by gradual increase was recorded; however, it still lower than the control group. On the same line, treated groups showed longer shelf-life (up to 48 days in refrigerator) in relation to the control group. It is worth noting that the antimicrobial effect of L. plantarum CFS was directly correlated to the used concentration where higher concentration used had higher antimicrobial potency. Based on the results, L. plantarum CFS showed potential to be used as meat additive especially in fermented sausage.