Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v as starter culture suppresses Enterobacteriaceae more efficiently than spontaneous fermentation of carrots

Fermentation, especially spontaneous fermentation, has become from an ancient food preservation method to a stylish cooking trend in very recent years. Accordingly, the associated food safety should be revisited, particularly since inexperienced people increasingly performing spontaneous fermentation on an ad hoc basis. In this study, three lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains were tested. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v at high initial inoculation levels (> 6 log CFU/mL brine water) effectively eliminated Salmonella spiked in a carrot fermentation system from 4.6 +/- 0.2 log CFU/mL to < 1 log CFU/mL after 7 days fermentation at 20 degrees C. Next, the bacterial enumeration and 16s rRNA gene sequencing results between spontaneous fermentation and fermentation samples using L. plantarum 299v as the starter culture were compared. It was found that the inhibiting effect of L. plantarum 299v could be extended beyond Salmonella spp. to the entire Enterobacteriaceae family during the carrot fermentation. Therefore, our study suggests that in comparison with spontaneous fermentation, selected starter culture such as L. plantarum 299v can consistently improve the safety and quality of fermented foods.

Automated summary

The study shows that using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v as a starter culture in carrot fermentation can effectively reduce the amount of Salmonella and the entire Enterobacteriaceae family, therefore improving the safety and quality of fermented foods compared to spontaneous fermentation.