Browsing by Autor "Soria, M Cecilia"

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Application of spray-dried bacteriocins as cheese biopreservatives.
(2025) Lenz, Romina M; Guitián, M Virginia; Villalva, Fernando J; Goncalvez de Oliveira, Enzo; Soria, M Cecilia; Audisio, M Carina; Ibarguren, Carolina
Listeria monocytogenes can contaminate refrigerated ready-to-eat foods, such as cheeses. Enterocins, with a strong listericidal effect, constitute a natural alternative to control this pathogen in food. To optimize their antimicrobial action in food matrices, bacteriocins can be immobilised in edible coatings through spray drying technology which allows the large-scale production of microcapsules of bioactive molecules. The aim of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial effectiveness of Enterococcus avium DSMZ17511 bacteriocins, obtained in a low-cost culture broth (HS-L), spray-dried assaying different thermoprotective materials (maltodextrin, cheese whey and brea gum), and incorporated into agar-based active coatings applied on goat cheese pieces artificially contaminated with L. monocytogenes 99/287. The bacteriocin solution (BS) powders, labelled HS-L BS, maintained the antimicrobial activity even after 90 days of storage, with titres up to 128,000 UA/g, with the least thermoprotective effect exerted by brea gum (64,000-32,000 UA/g). An increase in antimicrobial titre was observed for all bacteriocin powders after 3 months, despite storage conditions; probably due to a release effect from the encapsulated bacteriocin or a combined release and gradual dehydration effect of the encapsulating matrix. Also, the dried products stored at 25 °C hydrated easily, while refrigeration or freezing did not affect the powders texture. For coatings applied on fresh goat cheese, only a difference of 0.5 log cfu/mL was observed between the viability of L. monocytogenes in the contaminated active-coated cheese and the control without coating. Instead, for the commercial goat cheese, with a drier matrix, the viability values stood 1.0 log cfu/mL below the control uncoated cheeses for up to 10 days. These spray dried bacteriocin powders provide an alternative for their application as food biopreservatives, since stable dehydrated products were obtained, with prolonged antimicrobial activity, and with verified inhibitory action in a food matrix.
Inhibition of Bacillus cereus Strains by Antimicrobial Metabolites from Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647 and Enterococcus faecium SM21.
(2014) Soria, M Cecilia; Audisio, M Carina
Bacillus cereus is an endospore-forming, Gram-positive bacterium able to cause foodborne diseases. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are known for their ability to synthesize organic acids and bacteriocins, but the potential of these compounds against B. cereus has been scarcely documented in food models. The present study has examined the effect of the metabolites produced by Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647 and Enterococcus faecium SM21 on the viability of select B. cereus strains. Furthermore, the effect of E. faecium SM21 metabolites against B. cereus strains has also been investigated on a rice food model. L. johnsonii CRL1647 produced 128 mmol/L of lactic acid, 38 mmol/L of acetic acid and 0.3 mmol/L of phenyl-lactic acid. These organic acids reduced the number of vegetative cells and spores of the B. cereus strains tested. However, the antagonistic effect disappeared at pH 6.5. On the other hand, E. faecium SM21 produced only lactic and acetic acid (24.5 and 12.2 mmol/L, respectively) and was able to inhibit both vegetative cells and spores of the B. cereus strains, at a final fermentation pH of 5.0 and at pH 6.5. This would indicate the action of other metabolites, different from organic acids, present in the cell-free supernatant. On cooked rice grains, the E. faecium SM21 bacteriocin(s) were tested against two B. cereus strains. Both of them were significantly affected within the first 4 h of contact; whereas B. cereus BAC1 cells recovered after 24 h, the effect on B. cereus 1 remained up to the end of the assay. The LAB studied may thus be considered to define future strategies for biological control of B. cereus.