**9. Formation of biogenic amines**

Several LAB may produce biogenic amines by decarboxylation of amino acids, e.g. *Lb. buchneri, Lb. brevis, Lb. curvatus, Lb. hilgardii, Cb. maltaromaticum, Cb. divergens* [70]. Examples are such as tyramine and histamine during sausage fermentation. Strains of *Lb. plantarum, Lb. brevis* and *Lb. casei/paracasei,* and *Ec. faecium* and *Ec. faecalis* were identified as tyramine/histamine producers in the sausages [71]. Suitable starter cultures may contribute to reduction of biogenic amines in fermented sausages [72].

The Role of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Safety and Flavour Development of Meat and Meat Products 141

This is the basis of many applications in the food and health areas. As a starter culture for salamis *Lb. plantarum* is used since decades. More recently also probiotic strains have been described. With a size of 3.3 Mb its genome is one of the largest of LAB. A recent study on the phenetic and genetic diversity of the species revealed a high phenetic diversity which generally correlated with the origin of the isolates, e.g. from meat fermentations, kimchi, sourdough, egg plants and cheese. Four main clusters were determined: (i) meat, (ii) vegetable, (iii) sourdough, (iv) mixed sources with high meat content. On the genome level there were seven main clusters. The core genome contains more than 2000 genes, 121 genes being specific for *L. plantarum*. None of the strains could grow in milk, or at 4°C, or in the presence of 10% NaCl. A limited number grew at 17°C, or at 6% NaCl [79]. One of the earliest and most successful starter cultures for raw fermented sausages on the German market, "DuploFerment 66", contains a strain of *Lb. plantarum*. This is also the case for the "Saga II" starter from the US. In contrast to the first one, the latter strain does not grow at 10°C. Both strains are homofermentative for lactate and grow at 42°C but not at 8°C [25]. They provide rapid acidification of the raw sausage batter. On the other hand, *Lb. plantarum* is not very well adapted to meat and fails to maintain sufficiently high cell numbers to outcompete indigenous LAB. Sometimes it even does not grow in the meat batter [80,81]. In Italian natural fermented sausage the initial dominant populations of *Lb. plantarum* were accompanied by *Lb. sakei* and *Lb. curvatus* from the 10th day of fermentation and were finally competed out by the latter [21]. But, in certain traditional Greek fermented sausages *Lb.* 

In combination with *Pc. pentosaceus*, *Lb. brevis* has been used as an indigenous starter culture for a Vietnamese fermented meat product [84]. While *Lb. brevis* strongly acidifies the product, *Pc. pentosaceus* acts as a mild acidifier. The combination of both species resulted in a product with an intermediate taste (not too mild and not too sour) preferred by the sensory panel. Meat isolates of *Lb. brevis* may produce bacteriocins with antagonistic activity against

This species was first reported in 2003 as the dominant LAB in some German raw fermented poultry salamis. The species was present in high numbers and frequently dominated the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) populations of the products [86]. Later, the species has been isolated also from Scandinavian fermented meats, Egyptian Domiati cheese and Japanese traditional fermented fish products [87-89]. There are no studies to date on the general behaviour of this species in meat ecosystems. The genome of strain KCTC 3814, an isolate from poultry salami, has been recently sequenced by the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology [90].

Carnobacteria are non-aciduric and, therefore, are preferentially isolated from meats with elevated pH. *Cb. divergens* and *Cb. maltaromaticum* frequently constitute a major component

*plantarum* and *Lb. plantarum/pentosus* may predominate [82,83].

**11.3. Lb. brevis** 

*Li. monocytogenes* [85].

**11.5. Carnobacteria** 

**11.4. Lb. versmoldensis** 
