Influence of lactic acid fermentation on the microbiological parameters, biogenic amines, and volatile compounds of bovine colostrum

Abstract

In this study we hypothesized that the relations between the bovine colostrum (BC) microbiota, biogenic amine (BA) as well as volatile compound (VC) profiles can lead to new deeper insights concerning the BC changes during the biological preservation. To implement such an aim, BC samples were collected from 5 farms located in Lithuania and fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei strains. Non-fermented and fermented BC were subjected to microbiological [lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Escherichia coli, and total bacteria (TBC), total Enterobacteriaceae (TEC) and total mold/yeast (M/Y) viable counts] and physicochemical (pH, color coordinates, BA content and VC profile) parameters evaluation, and the relationship between the tested parameters were also further analyzed. In comparison pH and dry-matter (DM) of non-fermented samples, significant differences were not found, and pH of BC was, on average, 6.30, and DM, on average, 27.5%. The pH of fermented samples decreased, on average, until 4.40 in Lp. plantarum fermented group, and, on average, until 4.37 in Lc. paracasei fermented group. Comparing color characteristics among non-fermented BC groups, significant differences between lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*) were not detected, however, the origin (i.e. agricultural company), LAB strain used for fermentation and the interaction between these factors were statistically significant on bovine colostrum redness (a*) coordinate. The microbial contamination among all the tested BC groups was similar. However, different LAB strains used for BC fermentation showed different effects toward the microbial contamination reduction, and specifically Lc. paracasei was more effective than Lp. plantarum strain. Predominant BA in BC were putrescine and cadaverine. The main VC in non-fermented and fermented BC were decane, 2-ethyl1-hexanol, dodecane, 1,3-di-tert-butylbenzene, 3,6-dimethyldecane and tetradecane. Moreover, this study showed worrying trends with respect to the frozen colostrum storage, because most of the dominant VC in BC were contaminants from the packaging material. Additionally, significant correlations between separate VC and microbial contamination were obtained. Finally, these experimental results showed that the separate VCs in BC can be an important marker for biological as well as chemical contamination of BC. Also, it should be pointed out that despite the fermentation with LAB is usually described as a safe and natural process with many advantages, control of BA in the end product is necessary.