Scientists of the Siberian Federal Scientific Centre of Agro-BioTechnologies (SFSCA RAS) in cooperation with a large agricultural holding in Tatarstan have produced trial batches of sausage with the use of natural preservative - proteins-biocins, which secrete different strains of bacteria. This was reported by Sergey Leonov, senior researcher of the Laboratory of Bird Diseases at the Institute of Experimental Veterinary Science of Siberia and the Far East (SFSCA RAS).
" We produced small batches of sausages, which we evaluated for organoleptic qualities (appearance, texture, odor, flavor and aroma)", - said Leonov.
The scientist reported that the request to develop an organic preservative instead of chemical preserving agents for sausages and cheese came from a large agricultural holding from Tatarstan. Biocin proteins, which are secreted by different bacterial strains, are considered as a new generation of preservatives. The ability of biocins to selectively affect pathogenic bacteria is known, but in Russia there is still no database of bacteria and characteristics of the proteins secreted by them.
"Biocin, unlike chemical preserving agents, has a very high selectivity; there are proteins that work exclusively on certain pathogens - such as Listeria or Salmonella. Thus, it is possible to create a museum of these producing bacteria and characterize them as to which biocins they use, and use them in the food industry - cheeses, sausages and frankfurters", - explained Leonov.
After heat treatment of the product by boiling, frying or stewing, the biocin is converted into normal protein, resulting in a pure product with no preservatives or foreign microflora. While chemical preservatives are resistant to temperatures.
He explained that biocin synthesis would be comparable in price to a chemical preservative. It can be carried out both in the laboratory of the agrocenter, and the system of protein production can be fine-tuned at the production site. Now the scientists set themselves the task of collecting the most complete database of bacterial strains that secrete biocin, characterize the proteins and choose which proteins or complexes of proteins of which bacteria are better suited to create a preservative.
Next year it is planned to develop compositions of different biocins and conduct a study on batches of different sausage products - uncooked and raw smoked sausages, frankfurters and cheeses.
Kirill Golokhvast, Director of SFSCA RAS, added that experimental batches of the preservative powder prepared using a special technology were submitted for testing to meat processing companies and were highly appreciated by the manufacturers.