Suchergebnisse

La Aloreña de Málaga es una variedad de aceituna de mesa autóctona del Valle del Guadalhorce y la Sierra de las Nieves, con una demarcación muy concreta (19 municipios) siendo muy apreciada dentro y fuera de la provincia de Málaga. Fue la primera aceituna de mesa en España en obtener el sello de calidad de DOP (BOJA nº215, 2009). El volumen de producción de este tipo de especialidad de aceitunas de mesa es de aproximadamente 3.500- 4.000 ton/año según datos estimados por el Ministerio de Agricultura (http://www.aica.gob.es/) y contrastados con las declaraciones de los industriales, realizadas por el Consejo Regulador. Por lo tanto, la producción no es muy elevada comparada con otros tipos de elaboraciones como son las aceitunas verdes estilo español o sevillano. Sin embargo, su elaboración aún hoy en día se sigue realizando de manera muy artesanal (un aspecto este altamente valorado por los consumidores), y es llevado a cabo en industrias de pequeño tamaño (650). De este modo, se han estudiado los niveles poblacionales de aerobios mesófilos, levaduras, bacterias lácticas, enterobacterias, esporulados, presencia de Listeria, Salmonella, Clostridium y Staphylococcus coagulasa positivos. En base a los resultados obtenidos, se generó un modelo matemático que estimó el grado de cumplimiento higiénico-sanitario del proceso de elaboración de este tipo de aceituna de mesa mediante un sistema de ponderación (basado en la legislación presente y opiniones de expertos) y modelo probabilístico de gestión del riesgo. La contribución relativa de cada fase a la calidad y seguridad del producto final fue evaluada y ponderada por un panel de expertos (n=25) del ámbito científico y del sector de la Aloreña de Málaga. No se ha detectado en ninguna empresa la presencia de especies patógenas que puedan suponer un riesgo para los consumidores. La etapa de aliño ha resultado ser la más crítica dentro del proceso, ya que las hierbas aromáticas y diversos ingredientes que se utilizan en el mismo presentan una elevada carga microbiana que se añade directamente a los envasados sin ningún tipo de tratamiento previo. También es recomendable reducir el número de microorganismos en el ambiente y un mayor control de las aguas destinadas al consumo humano. Se observó asimismo que el grado de cumplimiento higiénico-sanitario determinado por el sistema de evaluación desarrollado aumenta conforme se acercan las etapas finales del proceso, las cuales resultan ser las más seguras. Con toda la información obtenida, se ha desarrollado un protocolo y procedimiento científico que puede ser utilizado por las empresas del sector para estandarizar sus procesos, valorar cuantitativamente el grado de cumplimiento higiénicosanitario de las diferentes etapas de producción y predecir los efectos de la introducción de medidas correctoras sobre la calidad y seguridad de los productos finales. ; The Aloreña de Málaga table olive is an autochthonous variety from Guadalhorce Valley and Sierra de las Nieves region, with a confined demarcation (19 municipalities) being well appreciated inside and outside Malaga province. It has been the first table olive with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in Spain (BOJA No. 215, 2009). The production volume of this table olive speciality is below 3,500-4,000 ton according to estimated records of the Ministry of Agriculture ((http://www.aica.gob.es/) and further verified with the interviews performed by the Regulatory Council to industrials. Thus, production is limited in comparison to other elaborations such as the Spanish table olive style. However, its elaboration is still very artisanal (which is highly appreciated by consumers), being carried out by SMEs with less than 20 operators. These industries have a great interest in optimizing and improving the transformation processes in order to obtain a valorised product with high quality and safety standards, which is currently requested by the large distribution chain. This Doctoral Thesis is focused on providing additional knowledge about the transformation processes of Aloreña de Málaga table olives as well as to evaluate the effect of new changes on quality and safety of final products. In this sense, the Doctoral Thesis is divided into two sections. In the first section, novel methodologies such as metagenomics and statistical modelling are applied with the aim to gain knowledge about how different modifications (reduction of sodium chloride, inclusion of resting periods to table olives, and application of heat treatments) can affect to the elaboration process. In the second section, the hazard analysis and critical control points from various industries were evaluated in different campaigns in order to determine the fulfilment of hygienic-sanitary conditions through the performance of physicochemical and microbiological analyses along the production chain. Information generated will allow the further development of a scientific procedure based on advanced mathematical models and different weighing values to improve food quality and safety management in industries. To study the effect of sodium chloride reduction and the addition of a resting period of fruits during fermentation and posterior table olive preservation, 1,500 kg of olive fruits were collected and placed in containers with different preservation brines and varying concentrations of acetic acid, citric acid and salt, either directly or with a resting period of table olives at room temperature (72 h, 25ºC). Afterwards, the main physicochemical and microbiological parameters were monitored during 1 year. The presence of a high amount of acetic acid together with the absence of sodium chloride did not negatively affect the evolution of the main physicochemical parameters, though differences existed according to the assayed treatments. The elaboration process was marked by a rapid inhibition of Enterobacteriaceae population, as well as by a growth of lactic acid bacteria (just at the end of the process) and specially, by the yeasts growth, which were continuously present reaching concentration levels up to 6 log10 CFU/mL. One of the first applications in food microbiology of a functional data analysis model programmed in R was presented. The model allowed a smart comparison of the different assayed treatments, providing additional information on the rate and acceleration of changes in the elaboration process through the calculation of means, maximal and minimal values. Model fitting showed that yeasts population was very similar among the evaluated treatments, though significant differences existed for some fermentation treatment times. Nevertheless, larger differences were found for pH evolution, specially during the first 3- month process, being then stabilized after all treatments until a pH of 4.0 units approximately. Next Generation Sequencing techniques were subsequently applied to study fermentation and preservation processes of Aloreña de Málaga table olives. To do this, four fermentation containers were monitored (approximately 500 kg of table olives) at the food industry during a 4-month period by performing physicochemical and microbiological (Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts) analyses. From a microbiological point of view, fermentation took place normally, being yeasts the only population group showing growth while lactic acid bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae were not present during fermentation. During the 4-month fermentation period metagenomic analysis of brines and fruit samples were carried out with the aim of studying the ecology of bacterial (16S) and fungal populations (ITS). This methodology allowed detecting with relative frequency bacteria genera not being previously described in this product such as Celerinatantimonas, Pseudomonas and Propionibacterium among the bacterial groups, and Penicillium, Pichia and Zygotorulaspora among yeasts and moulds. There was not any pathogenic microorganism in the fermented table olives studied by what microbial food safety was ensured. Therefore, the application of this culture independent technique has extended the microbial spectrum of bacterial species not being previously detected by conventional culture dependent techniques. The potential role of these microbial groups on the final product quality is still to be determined. One-hundred kg. of cracked olives (destined to the elaboration of traditional table olives) and whole olives (destined to the elaboration of cured table olives) were collected to study the effect of a previous heat treatments on the fermentation process of olive fruits together with their organoleptical characteristics. These fruits were submitted to a heat treatment which consisted on a water immersion at 60ºC for 5 min before placing them in brine. Afterwards, fermentations were monitored during a study period longer than 5 months. Performance of this heat treatment in table olives previously to their transferring to brines enhanced lactic acid fermentation, with a higher sugars consumption, free acidity production and pH drop, which guaranteed the stability of olive fruits. In the heat-treated fermented table olives, population levels of lactic acid bacteria reached 5 log10 CFU/mL, while in those brines without a heat treatment, this microbial group was not detected. Improvement of fruit coloration (luminosity, green colour etc.) was observed in those fruits undergoing a heat treatment during fermentation and packaging steps. The great advantage of the applied heat treatment was subsequently confirmed by the improvement in the stability and acceptability of table olives once packaged. Indeed, 41 days after packaging, the products having the highest proportion of olive tasters who would consume them and would purchase the packaging, corresponded to the traditional heat-treated table olives. The acceptability percentages sparsely varied between 4 and 41 after packaging, which did not occur with the rest of assayed treatments. Finally, the metagenomic analysis performed at the end of the fermentation period to all elaboration types, and between treated and non-treated olive fruits revealed that the bacteria genera Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and Celerinatantimonas were present in all elaborations in both fruits and brines, and that prevalence of Lactobacillus was significantly higher in heat-treated olive fruits, which confirmed the improvement of lactic acid fermentation by the heat treatment applied. Finally, in the present Doctoral Thesis three representative companies of the Aloreña de Málaga table olive sector were visited during three consecutive campaigns (13/14, 14/15, y 15/16). Physicochemical and microbiological analyses (>650) were performed corresponding to environmental control samples, equipment surfaces, food handlers, olive fruits, olive dressings, brines, and potable water. In this way, population levels of mesophilic bacteria, yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, sporulated bacteria, together with presence of Listeria, Salmonella, Clostridium and coagulase positive Staphylococci, were analysed. Based on the obtained results, a mathematical model was developed to estimate a Performance Hygiene and Safety Score (PHSS) of the elaboration process of this table olive type by means of a weighing system (based on current legislation applied and experts opinions) together with a probabilistic decision-making model. The relative contributions of each processing step to final product quality and safety were evaluated and weighted by a scientific expert panel (n=25) together with industrials from the Aloreña de Málaga table olive sector. There was not any food company having presence foodborne pathogens during the whole study period. Addition of olive dressings has resulted to be most critical processing step, since aromatic herbs and diverse ingredients used presented a high microbial load which is directly added to the packaged products without a posterior heat treatment. It is also recommended to reduce the environmental contamination as well as a more intensive control of the potable water destined to human consumption. Likewise, it was observed that the PHSS values determined by the developed mathematical model increased according to the final processing steps, being the safest ones. With the information obtained, a protocol and scientific procedure was performed, which can be used by industrials in order to standardize their elaboration processes, to quantitatively assess the degree of fulfilment of hygienic-sanitary conditions of the different production steps and to predict the effect of corrective measures on final products quality and safety.

19 Páginas; 6 Figuras; 1 Tabla ; Nowadays, our knowledge of the fungal biodiversity in fermented vegetables is limited although these microorganisms could have a great influence on the quality and safety of this kind of food. This work uses a metagenetic approach to obtain basic knowledge of the fungal community ecology during the course of fermentation of natural Aloreña de Málaga table olives, from reception of raw material to edible fruits. For this purpose, samples of brines and fruits were collected from two industries in Guadalhorce Valley (Málaga, Spain) at different moments of fermentation (0, 7, 30 and 120 days). The physicochemical and microbial counts performed during fermentation showed the typical evolution of this type of processes, mainly dominated by yeasts in apparent absence of Enterobacteriaceae and Lactobacillaceae. High-throughput barcoded pyrosequencing analysis of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region showed a low biodiversity of the fungal community, with the presence at 97% identity of 29 different fungal genera included in 105 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The most important genera in the raw material at the moment of reception in the industry were Penicillium, Cladosporium, Malassezia, and Candida, whilst after 4 months of fermentation in brines Zygotorulaspora and Pichia were predominant, whereas in fruits were Candida, Penicillium, Debaryomyces and Saccharomyces. The fungal genera Penicillium, Pichia, and Zygotorulaspora were shared among the three types of substrates during all the course of fermentation, representing the core fungal population for this table olive specialty. A phylogenetic analysis of the ITS sequences allowed a more accurate assignment of diverse OTUs to Pichia manshurica, Candida parapsilosis/C. tropicalis, Candida diddensiae, and Citeromyces nyonensis clades. This study highlights the existence of a complex fungal consortium in olive fermentations including phytopathogenic, saprofitic, spoilage and fermentative genera. Insights into the ecology, identification and quantification of fungi species in olive fermentation will facilitate the design of new strategies to improve the quality and safety of this fermented vegetable. ; The research leading to these results has received funding from Junta de Andalucía Government through the PrediAlo project (AGR-7755: www.predialo.science.com.es) and FEDER European funds. FNAL wishes to express thanks to the Spanish government for his RyC postdoctoral research contract while VRG would like to thank ceiA3, Spanish Government, Bank of Santander, IG-CSIC and 'Aloreña de Málaga' Olive Manufacturing Association for her pre-doctoral fellowship. ; Peer reviewed