The presence
of the most frequently found pathogens, e.g., S. aureus,
L. monocytogenes, E. coli and Salmonella can be controlled
by a combination of low pH, competitive exclusion with
starter cultures and/or bacteriocin production. The antimicrobial
spectrum of bacteriocin-like substances produced
by rumen staphylococci was observed by Laukova´ and
Marekova´ (1993). Villani et al. (1997) also described the
inhibitory activity of an antagonistic substance produced
by S. xylosus 1E against L. monocytogenes and other
Gram-positive bacteria; these results correspond to ours,
although the authors reported higher inhibitory activity
for their isolate. The growth inhibition of L. monocytogenes
by the bacteriocin-like substance produced by staphylococci
in this study may provide added control against
pathogens in traditional sausages