Characterization of antimicrobial compounds from an autochthnous starter strain to improve traditional sausage food safety.

TR50 CFCS showed antimicrobial activities against several food-borne pathogens and seven strains belonging to B. pumilus, B. licheniformis and B. thuringensis. The EA fraction retained inhibitory activity against six food-borne pathogenic strains. An inhibition halo against B. cereus DSM 4312 was produced by one peptide band with an apparent molecular weight of about 2.5 kDa, resolved on Tricine SDS-PAGE. The loss of inhibitory activities of TR50 CFCS against some tested strains and the comparison between CFCS and EA RP-HPLC profiles sustains the hypothesis that TR50 produces various active compounds responsible for its antimicrobial activity. Inhibition halos produced by bands scraped from TLC indicates the presence of lipopeptides. These preliminary results highlight that the antibacterial potential of B. subtilis TR50 could be exploited in several food sectors and in the sausage curing process. Further analyses are in progress to identify the active compounds.