Aim: This work evaluated the microbial diversity and physicochemical characteristics of fresh and fermented fruits from Brazilian untreated green table olives of the Ascolano and Grappolo cultivars.
Methods and results: Twenty species of mesophilic bacteria, seven lactic acid bacteria, and fourteen yeast were identified. Some species prevailed over others, such as the bacteria Levilactobacillus brevis, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei, Pantoea agglomerans, Staphylococcus warneri, Bacillus simplex, B. thuringiensis, and the yeasts Candida parapsilosis, Ca. orthopsilosis, and Cryptococcus flavescen. In the olive fruit and olive brine, the sugars: sucrose, glucose, mannitol, and fructose, and the acids: acetic, citric, lactic, malic, and succinic were identified. Thirty-seven volatile compounds belonging to different chemical classes of acids, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, hydrocarbons, phenols, ketones, and ether were identified in the fruits and brine olives.
Conclusion: The polyphasic methodology using matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight and 16S rRNA sequencing was efficiently performed to identify microorganisms; chemical analysis helped to understand the fermentation process of olives.
Keywords: bacteria; fermentation; olive fruit; volatile compound; yeast.
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Applied Microbiology International.