The Use of Tomato Powder Fermented with Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus sakei for the Ready-to-Cook Minced Meat Quality Improvement.

In this study, the influence of lactic acid fermentation on the quality of tomato powder was evaluated. The effect of adding fermented tomato powder to ready-to-cook minced pork meat to improve its nutritional value and sensory characteristics was also analysed. The cell growth of Lactobacillus sakei (7.53 log CFU/g) was more intense in the medium containing tomato powder, compared to the growth of Pediococcus pentosaceus (6.35 log CFU/g) during 24 h of fermentation; however, higher acidity (pH=4.1) was observed in the tomato powder samples fermented with Pediococcus pentosaceus. The spontaneous fermentation of tomato powder reduced cell growth by 38% and pH values slightly increased to 4.17, compared to the fermentation with pure LAB. The lactofermentation of tomato powder increased the average β-carotene and lycopene mass fractions by 43.9 and 50.2%, respectively, compared with the nonfermented samples. Lycopene and β-carotene contents in the ready-to-cook minced pork meat were proportional to the added tomato powder (10 and 30%). After cooking, β-carotene and lycopene contents decreased, on average, by 24.2 and 41.2%, respectively. The highest loss (up to 49.2%) of carotenoids was found in samples with 30% nonfermented tomato powder. Tomato powder fermented with 10% Lactobacillus sakei KTU05-6 can be recommended as both a colouring agent and a source of lycopene in the preparation of ready-to-cook minced pork meat.