Functionality of liquid smoke as an antimicrobial in cooked meat products: liquid smoke suppresses spoilage-related lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are known to promote deterioration of quality in meat products, such as discoloration and slime production. In this study, five types of liquid smoke, considered food additives, were assayed for potential anti-spoilage LABs from meat products. The spoilage LABs isolated from meat products were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus malodoratus, Streptococcus thermophilus, or Carnobacterium maltaromaticum. The liquid smoke product (LS1), made from mixed wood, was more effective in terms of spoilage LAB isolate activities. It had the highest phenol content along with the most varied component among the tested products. In the model sausages containing 0.5 % LS1, which was incubated at 30 degrees C for 5 d for accelerating their deterioration, the enumeration of LAB and staphylococci was significantly lower than that of the control. Therefore, LS1 was suggested to be useful for suppressing not only LAB but also the other bacteria related to spoilage of meat products.