Abstract
Sichuan bacon is one of the most popular types of Chinese bacon in the domestic market. High-throughput sequencing was used to characterize the bacterial diversity of 39 Sichuan bacon samples collected from 3 geographical regions. The results showed that the bacterial diversity of Sichuan bacon in different regions demonstrated certain specificity as well as similarity, and the shared OTUs were close to 81% of the total number in the basin group, mountain group, and plateau group. At the genus level, Staphylococcus is the most dominant genus among the three groups, covering 26.7%, 20.6%, and 22.7%, respectively. Beta diversity shows significant differences in bacterial compositions in different geographic regions, especially for Pseudomonas, Brochothrix, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, and Enterococcus. Meanwhile, some physicochemical characteristics were analyzed, and a significant difference (p < 0.05) among the three regions was shown in the Aw, pH, and nitrite content, which were significantly correlated with undesired bacteria. This study provides insights into the understanding of the role of bacterial communities in the microbial safety and quality improvement of Sichuan bacon.
Highlights
Chinese bacon, known as “larou” in China, is one of the most popular traditional drycured meats in the domestic market [1]
We identified the bacterial diversity of Sichuan bacon sampled from three altitude zones in Sichuan province of China by an high-throughput sequencing (HTS) approach and distinguished the general features of bacons through its physicochemical characteristics
Thirty-nine samples of traditional Sichuan bacon were randomly collected from 27 individual households in 8 cities across the Sichuan province of China, which were classified into three groups: basin
Summary
Known as “larou” in China, is one of the most popular traditional drycured meats in the domestic market [1]. Southern China is an extremely suitable area for bacon production due to its geographical and climatic conditions, especially in the Sichuan province, which includes the basin plain (basin), the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (plateau), and the mountainous transition zone (mountains), with altitude differences of more than 3000 m [2]. Traditional Sichuan bacon is produced in December on the lunar calendar. The pork belly or hind leg meat is sampled and cut into uniform strips. The meat strips are cleaned with warm water and air-dried naturally following the curing. All the strips are continuously hung outdoors or intermittently smoked by a cooking stove for ripening for about 3 weeks until becoming the final products.
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