Diversity of lactic acid bacteria population in ripened Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

• Published in: International journal of food microbiology 2008-07, Vol.125 (3), p.347-351
• Main Authors: Gala, Elisabetta, Landi, Sara, Solieri, Lisa, Nocetti, Marco, Pulvirenti, Andrea, Giudici, Paolo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 16S rDNA; Biological and medical sciences; Cheese; Cheese - microbiology; Cheese - standards; cheese ripening; cheese starters; Colony Count, Microbial - methods; DNA fingerprinting; DNA, Bacterial - chemistry; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel - methods; Food industries; Food Microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gel electrophoresis; Genetic Variation; hard cheeses; Lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus - classification; Lactobacillus - genetics; Lactobacillus - growth & development; Lactobacillus buchneri; Lactobacillus casei; Lactobacillus delbrueckii; Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis; Lactobacillus fermentum; Lactobacillus helveticus; Lactobacillus parabuchneri; Milk and cheese industries. Ice creams; molecular systematics; Parmigiano Reggiano; PCR-DGGE; PCR-RFLP; Phylogeny; polymerase chain reaction; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; restriction fragment length polymorphism; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; serotypes; traditional foods
• ISSN: 0168-1605; 1879-3460
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2008.04.008

The diversity of dominant lactic acid bacteria population in 12 months ripened Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses was investigated by a polyphasic approach including culture-dependent and independent methods. Traditional plating, isolation of LAB and identification by 16S rDNA analysis showed that strains belonging to Lactobacillus casei group were the most frequently isolated. Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus parabuchneri, and Lactobacillus buchneri species were detected with lower frequency. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) applied to DNA extracted directly from cheese samples and sequencing of rDNA amplicons confirmed the complex microbiological pattern of LAB in ripened Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, with the significant exception of the Lactobacillus fermentum species, which dominated in several samples, but was not detected by cultivation. The present combination of different approaches can effectively describe the lactic acid bacteria population of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in advanced stages of ripening, giving useful information for elucidating the role of LAB in determining the final cheese quality.