A survey of the main technology, biochemical and microbiological features influencing the concentration of biogenic amines of twenty Apulian and Sicilian (Southern Italy) cheeses
Abstract Twenty Apulian and Sicilian cheeses were analysed for their concentrations of eight biogenic amines (BAs), free amino acids, pH, water activity, and subjected to microbiological characterisation. In addition, lactic acid bacteria isolated from cheeses were assayed for their capacity to generate BAs. Principal component analysis was performed to find the effect of different parameters on the distribution of the cheeses. Although short-ripened (≤30 d) cheeses did not show significant BA concentrations, the only BA showing high positive correlation with time of ripening was histamine. Concentration of histidine and, especially, percentage of histidine-decarboxylase bacteria presumably…
Perspective: Essential study quality descriptors for data from nutritional epidemiologic research
Pooled analysis of secondary data increases the power of research and enables scientific discovery in nutritional epidemiology. Information on study characteristics that determine data quality is needed to enable correct reuse and interpretation of data. This study aims to define essential quality characteristics for data from observational studies in nutrition. First, a literature review was performed to get an insight on existing instruments that assess the quality of cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies and dietary measurement. Second, 2 face-to-face workshops were organized to determine the study characteristics that affect data quality. Third, consensus on the data descrip…
Characterization of sourdough lactic acid bacteria based on genotypic and cell-wall protein analyses
Abstract Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of two independent methods in differentiating a large population of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from wheat flours and sourdoughs and to correlate eventual differences/similarities among strains with their geographical origin and/or process parameters. Methods and Results: One hundred fifty strains belonging to Lactobacillus spp. and Weissella spp., plus eight type strains, one for each species, and two unidentified isolates, were characterized by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and SDS-PAGE of cell-wall proteins. The RAPD analysis separated the eight type strains but did not always assign all the strains of a species to the same…
Selection of amine-oxidizing dairy lactic acid bacteria and identification of the enzyme and gene involved in the decrease of biogenic amines
ABSTRACT Accumulation of biogenic amines (BAs) in cheese and other foods is a matter of public health concern. The aim of this study was to identify the enzyme activities responsible for BA degradation in lactic acid bacteria which were previously isolated from traditional Sicilian and Apulian cheeses. The selected strains would control the concentration of BAs during cheese manufacture. First, 431 isolates not showing genes encoding the decarboxylases responsible for BA formation were selected using PCR-based methods. Ninety-four out of the 431 isolates degraded BAs (2-phenylethylamine, cadaverine, histamine, putrescine, spermine, spermidine, tyramine, or tryptamine) during cultivation on …
Selection of potential probiotic lactobacilli from pig feces to be used as additives in pelleted feeding
Thirty-five isolates from pig feces were identified as Lactobacillus reuteri (12 strains), Lactobacillus mucosae (7), Lactobacillus plantarum (6), Lactobacillus kitasatonis (3), Lactobacillus rossiae (2), Lactobacillus ultunensis (2), Lactobacillus crispatus (2), and Lactobacillus intestinalis (1) by partial sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA. All isolates were detected at 8-9 log CFU g(-1). Preliminarily, strains were selected based on resistance to heat treatments (ca. 70 degrees C for 10 s). The decrease in viability for some L. reuteri, L. mucosae, L. plantarum, L. kitasatonis, and L. rossiae strains was lower than 1 log cycle. Selected strains were further characterized for acid and bil…
Purification and characterization of an intracellular family 3 β-glucosidase from Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis CB1
Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis CB1 uses cellobiose and other β-glucosides (methyl-β-glucoside, arbutin, amygdalin and salicin) as carbon sources. A hexameric ca. 288 kDa β-glucosidase was purified to homogeneity from Lact. sanfranciscensis CB1 by four chromatographic steps. The enzyme was optimally active at pH 7.5 and 40°C. It had a pI of ca. 4.38 and a D55°C value of ca. 27 sec. Almost total inhibition was found with sulfhydryl-modifying agents and divalent cations such as Cu2+, Co2+, Hg2+, Ni2+ and Fe2+ at a concentration of 2 mM. The enzyme was active towards β-(1→4) substrates such as p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucoside, -D-galactoside and -L-rhamnoside, and cellobiose. The sequencing of four …
Lactobacillus rossii sp. nov. isolated from wheat sourdough
Screening of sourdough lactic acid bacteria for bacteriocin production resulted in the isolation of a Gram-positive, catalase-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile rod bacterium (strain CS1T) that could not be associated with any previously described species. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis recognized strain CS1T as a distinct member of the genus Lactobacillus. By a species-specific PCR strategy, five additional strains previously isolated from sourdoughs were found to belong to the same species as strain CS1T, as confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The closest related species were Lactobacillus durianis, Lactobacillus malefermentans and Lactobacillus suebicus, with …