title: Behaviour of lactic acid bacteria populations in Pecorino di Carmasciano cheese samples submitted to environmental conditions prevailing in the gastrointestinal tract: evaluation by means of a polyphasic approach.
abstract: The survival of the autochthonous microflora, of samples collected during Pecorino di Carmasciano cheese manufacturing, was evaluated along the passage through a model mimicking the gastro-intestinal tract. The aim was the selection of lactic acid bacteria potentially able to arrive alive and metabolically active to the colon. The dynamics of lactic microbiota, throughout simulated digestion of cheese samples, were evaluated by means of an approach PCR-DGGE-based. Dominant species after cheese digestion could be related to the Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus casei groups. Sixty-three strains, which survived to simulated gastro-intestinal transit, were further evaluated for technological features and tolerance to human digestion in several experimental conditions, according to routinely used protocols. Bacterial survival appeared to be, more than strain-specific, strongly affected by experimental conditions, i.e. some strains showed an acceptable survival when resuspended in skim milk but not in ewe milk and vice versa. Nevertheless according to data, one gram of fresh Pecorino di Carmasciano cheese may convey to human colon about the same amount of viable LAB of a probiotic drink. Although it cannot be assumed that lactobacilli introduced with Pecorino have beneficial effects on the host, the healthy impact of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria of naturally fermented food has a broad consensus in the current literature.
authors.affiliation: Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Viale dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blaiotta
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chirurgia Generale e Specialità Chirurgiche, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cerbo
authors.affiliation: DAAA, Università degli Studi del Molise, Via de Sanctis, 86100 Campobasso, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariantonietta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Succi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy. Electronic address: aponte@unina.it.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aponte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002611:Cheese / Q000382:microbiology*; D004777:Environment; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D050296:Microbial Viability; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019936:Probiotics / Q000032:analysis*; D012756:Sheep
keywords: Lactobacillus spp.; PCR–DGGE; Pecorino di Carmasciano; Simulated digestion