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Conventional taxonomy of lactobacilli surviving radurization of meat
Author(s) -
Hasting J. W.,
Holzapfel W. H.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1987.tb02400.x
Subject(s) - melibiose , maltose , amygdalin , biology , fermentation , food science , sugar , lactobacillus , thermophile , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , sucrose , genetics , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
All of the 113 catalasc‐negative, Gram‐positive, rod‐shaped strains isolated from radurized minced beef (5 kGy) were homofermentative, non‐thermophilic, and belonged to the sub‐genus Streptobacterium. The majority of the strains (100) were identified as Lactobacillus sake. These were divided into four sub‐groups based on their sugar fermentation pattern: group IA 1 (melibiose (+), maltose (—), amygdalin (—), 76 strains); group IA 2 (melibiose (+), maltose (—), amygdalin (+), 14 strains); group IB 1 (melibiose (+), maltose (+), amygdalin (+), four strains); group IB 2 (melibiose (+), maltose (+), amygdalin (—), six strains). Of the remaining strains, two produced L(+)‐lactic acid and were identified as L. farciminis , three were identified as L. curvatus and eight showed characteristics of both ‘L. sake and L. curvatus and were designated ‘L. sake/curvatus.’ With one exception, all strains were aciduric and relatively insensitive to the chemical preservatives tested. Most L. sake strains produced significant amounts of H 2 O 2 . Electron microscopy confirmed a possible relationship between the thickness of the cells and radiation resistance. The problems and limitations of this type of taxonomic study and possible reasons for the predominance of L. sake species in radurized meat are discussed.