Characterisation of yeasts isolated from ‘Nduja of Spilinga

The ‘Nduja of Spilinga protected geographical indication (PGI) is a spreadable italian salami, obtained by using fat (50%), lean of pork (25%), chili pepper (25%) and NaCl, stuffed into natural pork casing. Its predominant flora is represented by yeasts, reaching at the end of seasoning values of 6 log CFU/g. Considering the need to enhance and protect traditional local products, it seemed interesting to carry out a characterisation of yeasts of the ‘Nduja of Spilinga PGI. A total of 127 strains of yeast isolated from samples of ‘Nduja of Spilinga PGI (79 strains from samples at different days of curing and 48 from samples of commerce) was subjected to morphological identification, hydrolysis of urea, lipolytic activity and identification with API 20C AUX, ID 32C and simplified identification systems. One hundred twenty three (96.8%) strains were attributable to the phylum Ascomycetes (urease-negative), the remaining 4 strains (3.2%) were Basidiomycetes (urease-positive). Debaryomyces hansenii and its anamorph shape, Candida famata, represented the most prevalent species (61.42 and 17.32% respectively), followed by Candida glabrata (8.66%), Pichia (Candida) guilliermondii (5.17%), Candida parapsilosis and Rhodotorula glutinis (1.57%). Candida catenulata, Criptococcus uniguttulatus, Rhodotorula minuta, Candida zeylanoides and Candida utilis were observed with 0.79%. The lipolytic activity was observed only in 10 strains of D. hansenii and in one of C. zeylanoides. Further investigation will contribute to the selection of indigenous strains that could be used for the creation of specific starter, useful to improve the process of characterisation of the ‘Nduja of Spilinga and also to guarantee its safety.