Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Characteristics of Cured Meat

The study was conducted to explore the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the quality changes of bacon during storage. The blank control group (CK) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 0.3% case group (SC) Sichuan-style bacon were prepared by the same process, and whose physicochemical and microbiological properties were determined during storage. The results showed that the pH and moisture content of the products from SC were 5.98 and 25.88%, which were lower than those of CK, whereas the difference of a_w between groups was not observed. For oxidation indexes, the acid value (AV), peroxide value (POV) and thiobarbituric acid value (TBA) of the SC was 1.85 mg/g, 0.024 g/100 g, and 0.241 mg/kg, which were significantly lower than those of the CK of 2.13 mg/g, 0.043 g/100 g, and 0.314 mg/kg (P<0.05), respectively. In addition, the soluble protein (SP) and free amino acid (FAA) contents were significantly higher in CK group. The sodium nitrite content at both air-drying and storage stages continued to decrease throughout the process, with 19.06 mg/kg in CK and 10.48 mg/kg in SC at 29 d, with a significant decrease of 38.22%. Furthermore, the number of yeasts in both groups showed a decreasing trend whereas lactic acid bacteria was increased through storage. However, the overall microbiological indexes in SC were higher than those in CK. The principal component analysis showed that the amount of yeast was significantly and positively correlated with a_w and SP, but was negatively correlated with AV, TBA, lactic acid bacteria content and total colony count (TPC). In summary, adding Saccharomyces cerevisiae was beneficial to enhancing the antioxidant capacity of lipids and proteolytic capacity of bacon.