Effect of Infection of a Bacteriophage in a Starter Culture during the Production of Salami Dry Sausage; A Model Study

The lytic bacteriophage B 2 was able to suppress the growth and delay the formation of lactic acid in a slowly growing Lacrobacillus planturum ATCC 8014 in a growth limiting liquid medium. The fermentation process of dry sausage was found to be temporarily inhibited by phage‐infection. The inhibition was due to killing of the lactobacilli. Depending on the size of phage‐inoculum it took the phage‐infected sausages 1‐2 days to reach a viable lactobacilli number equal to the initial number in the control. After 3‐4 days, however, no significant differences between the bacterial counts of the various sausages were found. The development of pH as well as the production of lactic acid were significantly delayed in the phagecontaining sausages, but after 8‐11 days only minor differences between the infected and the control‐sausages were found.