Unravelling the relation between natural microbiota and biogenic amines in Brazilian dry‐cured loin: a chemometric approach

Exploratory data analysis was used to evaluate the influence of NaCl concentration on the relation between endogenous microbiota (mesophilic aerobic bacteria, psychrotrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus spp.) and biogenic amines (BAs) (histamine, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine and spermidine) content in Brazilian dry‐cured loin (BDL). Using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), initial data analysis led to samples separation into a higher and a lower NaCl cluster. The analysis of variance showed that the microbial counts did not differ between the clusters (p > 0.05). However, the higher NaCl cluster showed a lower level of BAs. Further, principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated a negative correlation between the microbial counts and BAs content in the lower NaCl cluster, thus indicating the possibility of the higher BA’s content in the lower NaCl cluster being a result of a stress–response mechanism. On the other hand, in the higher NaCl cluster, the salt concentration had an inhibitory property in BA’s formation except for histamine. The collective results point to a NaCl threshold to minimise the production of BAs in BDL. The findings of the present exploratory study highlight the possibility of intervention for BA minimization without the need for designed starter cultures or preservation treatments. Flowchart of chemometrics techniques employment to unravel the relationship between the Brazilian dry‐cured loin biogenic amine content and their endogenous microbiota.