Abstract
Clostridium estertheticum is a psychrotolerant, gram-positive, motile, anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria that causes blown pack spoilage (BPS). Spoilage occurs in vacuum-packed meat without temperature abuse. Having been reported in the last 30 years in several countries, BPS by Cl. estertheticum is a major issue around the world and presents a huge economic impact on the meat industry. Despite being an important spoilage microorganism, studies on Cl. estertheticum are challenged by numerous aspects. These include, lack or poor growth in laboratory media, long culturing periods, and unpredictable isolation on the media. These factors hamper the detection of Cl. estertheticum before occurrence of BPS, which further undermines efforts to prevent the occurrence of BPS. Nevertheless, considerable developments have taken place with regard to culture-independent methods. Although information on Cl. estertheticum is available, it is limited and remains highly fragmented. Therefore, this review collates the available information and discusses relevant aspects of Cl. estertheticum as a specific spoilage organism of BPS in vacuum-packed meat.
Highlights
Meat is a highly perishable food commodity prone to microbial or chemical spoilage
These include, lack or poor growth in laboratory media, long culturing periods, and unpredictable isolation on the media. These factors hamper the detection of Cl. estertheticum before occurrence of blown pack spoilage (BPS), which further undermines efforts to prevent the occurrence of BPS
Most recently, Amplified ribosomal DNA (rDNA) Restriction Analysis (ARDRA), which is a modified restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method, was used to differentiate Cl. estertheticum from other spoilage-associated species of Clostridia as well as other pyschrotolerant Clostridium species associated with meat production [61]
Summary
Meat is a highly perishable food commodity prone to microbial or chemical spoilage. Various intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the process of microbial meat spoilage. These include oxygen demand, pH, temperature, and competing organisms [10]. The diversity of these ecophysiological factors affect the microbial growth dynamics, including succession of microorganisms and the microbiota composition and the type and rate of meat spoilage. Among the Clostridia, Clostridium estertheticum, Cl. algidicarnis, Cl. frigidicarnis, Cl. gasigenes, Cl. Frigoris, and Cl. bowmanii are involved in spoilage of chilled vacuum-packed meat and meat products [26,27]. The present study reviews the characteristics of Cl. estertheticum as an SSO of BPS in refrigerated vacuum-packed meat
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