Autochthone Microbiota from Dry-Cured Sheep Ham

Abstract

Dry-cured sheep ham is traditional products of the Western Balkans. It is produced by drying specially processed carcasses of whole sheep that are smoked in cold smoke and spontaneously fermented. The aim of this research was to investigate physicochemical properties and isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) from the product. To this end, 9 samples of dry-cured sheep ham from three households were taken. Isolated LABs were identified as Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus sakei and Enterococcus faecium. CNS were identified as Staphylococcus xylosus, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus equorum, Staphylococcus carnosus. LAB and CNS play a key role in defining the quality of the product.

Suva ovčija stelja je tradicionalni proizvodi Zapadnog Balkana. Proizvodi se sušenjem specijalno obrađenih trupova celih ovaca koji se kratko dime na hladnom dima i spontano fermentišu. Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se ispitataju fizičko-hemijske karakteristike i izoluju Bakterije mlečne kiseline (BMK) i koagulaza negativne stafilokoke (KNS) iz proizvoda. U tom cilju uzeto je 9 uzoraka iz tri domaćinstva. Izolovane BMK su identifikovane kao Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus sakei i Enterococcus faecium. KNS su identifikovane kao Staphylococcus xylosus Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus equorum, Staphylococcus carnosus. BMK i KNS igraju ključnu ulogu u definisanju kvaliteta proizvoda.