Control of beef spoilage by a sulfide-producing Lactobacillus sake strain with bacteriocinogenic Leuconostoc gelidum UAL187 during anaerobic storage at 2 degrees C.

Chill-stored, vacuum-packaged beef inoculated with sulfide-producing Lactobacillus sake 1218 developed a distinct sulfide odor within 3 weeks of storage at 2 degrees C, at which time the bacteria had reached maximum numbers of 10(6) CFU cm(-2). Coinoculation of the meat with the wild-type, bacteriocinogenic (Bac+) strain of Leuconostoc gelidum UAL187 delayed the spoilage by L. sake 1218 for up to 8 weeks of storage. Coinoculation of meat samples with an isogenic, slowly growing Bac+ variant, UAL187-22, or with the Bac- variant UAL187-13 did not delay the onset of spoilage by L. sake 1218. The study showed that spoilage of chill-stored, vacuum-packaged beef by a susceptible target organism could be dramatically delayed by the Bac+ wild-type strain of L. gelidum UAL187. Inoculation with L. sake 1218 can be used as a model system to determine the efficacy of biopreservation of vacuum-packaged meats.