Dry-fermented sausage as probiotic carrier food

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the potential use of Lactobacillus curvatus and Enterococcus faecium isolated from traditional fermented sausage from Southeast Serbia as probiotics. Analytic criteria for determining the probiotic potential included haemolysis, autoagreggation and coaggregation tests as well as the test for hydrophobicity of natural isolates. The best autoaggregation ability was observed in Lb. curvatus, sk217 and sk65 (73%) while the lowest level of grouping was shown by the isolate sk110 (68%), as the coaggregation ability ranged from 34% to 58%. The value of autoaggregation of examined strains of enterococci ranged from 47% to 55.2%, while coaggregation ranged from 31.9% to 45.2%. Haemolytic reaction was not observed in researched isolates. Hydrophobicity was determined by bacterial adherence to hydrocarbons, nhexadecane, xylene and chloroform. All isolates possessed a high level of hydrophobicity. The results of this study of probiotic characteristics of Lactobacillus curvatus and Enterococcus faecium indicate that the tested strains can be recommended as good candidates for use in the food industry.