Lactobacillus plantarum LPL-1, a bacteriocin producing strain, changed the bacterial community composition and improved the safety of low-salt fermented sausages

The reduction of salt (sodium chloride) in fermented sausages is motivated by the positive association between excessive intake of sodium and some diseases. However, pathogens control and shelf life of fermented sausages is of vital importance when salt is reduced. In this study, we investigated the impacts of an IIa bacteriocin-producing strain, Lactobacillus plantarum LPL-1, on the composition of bacterial community in low-salt fermented sausages by using a culture-independent high-throughput sequencing approach. Meanwhile, impacts of LPL-1 on physicochemical characteristics of low-salt fermented sausages were investigated. Our results showed that LPL-1 changed the bacterial community composition, reduced community diversity and inhibited the growth of spoilage bacteria during fermentation and ripening of low-salt fermented sausages. After fermentation, Lactobacillus was the most abundant genus with the proportion over 90% in sausages which inoculated with LPL-1. We predicted microbial metabolism related to nutrients transport and metabolism enhanced in sausages by inoculating with LPL-1. We also found that the decrease of pH and tyramine, putrescine and cadaverine and total biogenic amines content in sausages inoculated with LPL-1. These findings indicated that L. plantarum LPL-1 can be applied as starter culture to improve the safety of low-salt fermented sausages.