Effects of temperature on microbial succession and quality of sour meat during fermentation

Little is known about the relationship between physicochemical characteristics and bacterial community of sour meat, a traditional fermented meat product in China. In this study, temperature effects on bacterial community and quality of sour meats during fermentation were investigated. The results showed the reduction of pH, TBARS, and water content was closely related to the increase in temperature. Microbial succession, in which the dominant microorganism species found in the microbial community changes, was observed during the fermentation process of sour meat. The dominant species found in the early stages of fermentation was Lactobacillus sakei whereas the dominant species was Lactobacillus curvatus during the middle stage and Lactobacillus plantarum during the later stage. Higher temperatures were found to be related to the shift of water populations T2 (including T2b1, T2b2, T21, and T22) toward faster relaxation times. Rapid fermentation and better quality were obtained at higher fermentation temperatures (particularly at 25 °C), which might be due to increased inhibition of Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas growth as well as tougher texture. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed a close relationship between L. plantarum and desired product characteristics, which indicated that L. plantarum could be regarded as an indicator of fermentation maturation and product quality. [Display omitted] •Better quality sour meats are produced when fermented at 25 °C.•L. sakei, L. curvatus, and L. plantarum became the dominant species successively.•L. plantarum may be a potential indicator of fermentation maturity and good quality.