Revealing the bacterial abundance and diversity in brines from started Spanish-style green table olives

Abstract

The influence of the inoculum on bacterial communities of Spanish-style green table olive brinesis very limited. This work assessed the size and structure of the bacterial communities in olive brines inoculated with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. Also, a new qPCR assay was developed to determine the specific abundance of this genus. Absolute abundances of total Bacteria and L. plantarum decrease steadily during the fermentation. Similarly, there were differences in both populations according to the container origin. On the other hand, the dominant bacterial genera were (in decreasing abundance): Vibrio, Marinilactibacillus, Lactiplantibacillus, Enterococcus, Secundilactobacillus, Loigolactobacillus, Amphibacillus, Pediococcus, Alkalibacterium, Halolactibacillus, Weissella, Lentilactobacillus, and Paucilactobacillus. Colonisation and proliferation of several different genera within the Lactobacillacea family was allowed despite the use of a starter. Bacterial structure presented a broad intra-specific diversity among the different brines. Also, it was revealed that NaCl concentration was modulated the size and structure of the bacterial communities.