Prevalence of lactic acid bacteria in sliced cooked ham as an indicator of its shelf life

Background: Ready to eat sliced-cooked-meat-products (RTE) are popular convenience foods. Slicing of such products at retail point is a common practice in supermarkets. Due to handling, as well as the supermarket environment, it has been suggested that the counts and presence of specific lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in these products may be associated with their rapid deterioration and short shelf life. Objectives: The aim was to quantify and identify LAB in commercial sliced cooked ham. Methods: Thirty samples of sliced cooked ham were collected from five supermarkets. Each sample was analyzed in terms of: Lactobacillus on De Man Rogosa, Sharpe agar (30°C), mesophilic (30°C) and thermophilic (37°C) Streptococcus on M17 agar containing 1% lactose, Lactococcus on LM17 agar containing 100 µg per liter of cycloheximide (25°C) and Enterococci on Kanamicin Aesculin Azide agar containing kanamycin (37°C), all under anaerobic conditions (Gas-Pack System®, BBL) for 48-72h. Twenty-one colonies were randomly picked and physiologically and biochemically characterized. Results: No difference was observed in genuses between supermarkets; however, significant differences were observed between microbial genuses. Enterococci showed the lowest count (2.34 ± 0.05 log₁₀ CFU/g) and Lactobacilli had the highest counts (5.98 ± 0.04 log₁₀ CFU/g). Of the strains isolated 23.8% were identified as thermophillic Lactobacillus, 23.8% mesophilic Lactobacillus, 28.6% Enterococcus, 14.3% Lactococcus and 9.5% Streptococcus. From these, only six could be characterized to species level; one was L.lactis subsp. lactis and five were L. amylolyticus. Conclusions: High LAB counts are a common cause of spoilage in RTE meat products, since these are commonly found in meat environments. Therefore a study on the processing, distribution and in-site handling of RTE meat products at supermarkets may be necessary in order to increase its shelf life.