Bacteriocinogenic activity from starter cultures used in Spanish meat industry.

Thirty-nine bacterial strains, obtained from commercial starter cultures and commonly used by the meat industry in Spain, have been examined for their ability to produce bacteriocins. Fourteen (35%) of them showed antagonism against at least one of the indicator strains, by the agar spot test. The strains showing an inhibitory action against pathogenic indicator strains were identified as Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus pentosus and Lactobacillus plantarum, which showed an inhibitory action against a wide range of Gram-positive bacteria. The only strain which showed reliable inhibitory activity against pathogenic indicator strains, by the well diffusion assay, was P. acidilactici. This strain produces an inhibitory compound, which reaches its maximum activity at the beginning of the stationary phase of growth. This antimicrobial substance (bacteriocin) has a proteinaceous nature, is stable over a broad range of pH, resistant to heat and shows a bactericidal action.