Prevalence and Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Meat and Milk in Northeastern Italy.

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogenic microorganism often found in animal-derived foods and is known for its ability to readily develop resistance to antibiotic treatments. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of S. aureus strains in raw milk and meat in Italy and to evaluate their antibiotic resistance profiles and biofilm production.

Volatilome of brine-related microorganisms in a curd-based medium.

The possible contribution of brine-derived microflora to the sensory attributes of cheese is still a rather unexplored field. In this study, 365 bacteria and 105 yeast strains isolated from 11 cheese brines were qualitatively tested for proteolytic and lipolytic activities, and positive strains were identified by sequencing. Among bacteria, Staphylococcus equorum was the most frequent, followed by Macrococcus caseolyticus and Corynebacterium flavescens.

Biofilm formation under food-relevant conditions and sanitizers' tolerance of a Pseudomonas fluorescens group strain.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the biofilm-forming ability of a strain belonging to the Pseudomonas fluorescens group isolated from the dairy environment under food-relevant conditions. Moreover, the effects of commercial sanitizers against preformed biofilms were assessed both in terms of viability and structure.

Methods And Results: The biofilms were formed on polystyrene, stainless steel (SS), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in a wide range of temperatures (4-25°C) and were subjected to the action of 10 different sanitizers.

Application of pre-adaptation strategies to improve the growth of probiotic lactobacilli under food-relevant stressful conditions.

While formulating a probiotic food, it is mandatory to make sure that the viability of probiotics is adequate at the point of consumption, which can be strongly compromised by stressful conditions due to low pH and high osmolarity. In this study, three probiotic lactobacilli were subjected to different pre-adaptation conditions, and the turbidimetric growth kinetics in challenging conditions (pH 4.0-6.

Raw milk preservation by hyperbaric storage: Effect on microbial counts, protein structure and technological functionality.

The possibility to apply hyperbaric storage (HS) at room temperature (20 °C) as a sustainable approach for preservation of raw skim milk was studied. Samples were stored at 200 and 150 MPa for up to 6 days. Optimal pressure for milk HS was found to be 150 MPa, since no clotting was detected for up to 6 days.