Enterococcus species dominating in fresh modified-atmosphere-packaged, marinated broiler legs are overgrown by Carnobacterium and Lactobacillus species during storage at 6 °C

In order to show which of the initial lactic acid bacteria (LAB) contaminants are also causing spoilage of a modified-atmosphere-packaged (MAP), marinated broiler leg product at 6 °C, LAB were enumerated and identified on the 2nd and 17th days following manufacture. A total of 8 fresh and 13 spoiled packages were studied for LAB levels. In addition, aerobic mesophilic bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae were determined. The average CFU/g values in the 8 fresh packages were 1.3×103, 9.8×103 and 2.6×102 on de Man Rogosa Sharpe agar (MRS), Plate Count Agar (PCA) and Violet Red Bile Glucose agar (VRBG), respectively. The commercial shelf life for the product had been set as 12 days, and all packages analyzed on the 17th day were deemed unfit for human consumption by sensory analysis. The corresponding CFU/g averages in the spoiled product were 1.4×109, 1.1×109 and 3.9×107 on MRS, PCA and VRBG agar, respectively. For characterization of LAB population, 104 colonies originating from the fresh packages and 144 colonies from the spoiled packages were randomly picked, cultured pure and identified to species level using a 16 and 23S rDNA HindIII RFLP (ribotyping) database. The results showed that enterococci (35.7% of the LAB population) were dominating in the fresh product, whereas carnobacteria (59.7%) dominated among the spoilage LAB. Enterococcus faecalis, Carnobacterium piscicola and Carnobacterium divergens were the main species detected. In general, when the initial LAB population is compared to the spoilage LAB, a shift from homofermentative cocci towards carnobacteria, Lactobacillus sakei/curvatus and heterofermentative rods is seen in this marinated product.