Traditionally Sicilian–style table olives from Nocellara Etnea cultivar, provided from a local company, located in Paternò (Sicily), were processed without any lye treatment. Olives were pre-treated as previously reported (Pino et al., 2018a) and directly immersed in sterilized brine, containing 5 or 8% (w/v) of NaCl. The β-glucosidase positive strain Lactobacillus plantarum F3.3, previously isolated from fermented table olives was used as starter. The strain was previously characterized for the presence of bglH gene according to Marasco et al. (1998) and its β-glucosidase activity was evaluated by enzymatic assay, according to Sestelo et al. (2004). To set-up probiotic table olives, the potential probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei N24, belonging to the Di3A microbial collection was added. This strain was selected according to its technological and probiotic features (Pitino et al., 2010; Randazzo et al., 2010) and for its good ability to survive in table olives (Randazzo et al., 2017; Pino et al., 2018a). Both microorganisms were applied as lyophilized strains.

The experimental fermentation design comprised 8 treatments: 4 fermentations at 5% of NaCl with (F5A; F5B) and without (F5C; F5D) the addition of L. plantarum F3.3 strain, and 4 fermentations at 8% of NaCl with (F8A; F8B) and without (F8C; F8D) the addition of L. plantarum F3.3. Brine samples F5A; F5B; F8A; F8B were inoculated with the L. plantarum starter culture, to a final cell density of 7 log cfu/ml, directly after brining. The potential probiotic L. paracasei N24 strain was inoculated in F5B; F5D; F8B; F8D samples after 60 days of brining (at final cell density of 9 log cfu/ml). All fermentations were done at room temperature (18 ± 2°C), and followed up to 120 days. Marine salt was periodically added to maintain the initial concentration and fresh brine was supplied to keep olives totally dipped. Each fermentation was carried out in triplicate.

The pH of the brines was detected by using a MettlerDL25 pHmeter (MettlerDL25, Mettler-Toledo International Inc.). Titratable acidity was determined by titring brine samples with 0.1 N NaOH and was expressed as lactic acid (g/100 ml).

The olive brines were filtered through PTFE filters (Millipore, 0.45 μm) and injected in the chromatographic system to analyze the phenol fraction. The HPLC instrument consisted of a chromatography Waters Alliance 2695 HPLC equipped with a Waters 996 photodiode array detector (PDA) set at 280 nm. The column used was a Luna C18 (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm, 100 Å, Phenomenex, Torrence, CA) which was maintained at 30°C in an oven. The flow rate was 1 mL/min. Separation was obtained by elution gradient using an initial composition of 95% of A solution (2% acetic acid in water) and 5% of B solution (methanol). The concentration of B solution was increased to 30% in 15 min and to 70% in 25 min and then, after 2 min in isocratic condition, the mobile phase was set at the same initial concentration in 8 min. Phenolic compounds were identified by injecting the pure standards of oleuropein, verbascoside, tyrosol, and hydroxytyrosol and by comparing their retention time and UV-Vis spectra. All the analyses were performed in triplicate.

Brine samples at 1, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days of fermentation were subjected to microbiological analysis as previously described (Pino et al., 2018a). Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA), incubated at 32°C for 48 h, was used to isolate both coagulase positive and negative staphylococci. All media were provided from Oxoid (Italy) with the exception of YM provided from Difco (Italy). Microbiological analyses were performed in triplicate and results were expressed as log cfu/ml ± standard deviation.

For each brine sample (F5A, F5B, F5C, F5D, F8A, F8B, F8C, and F8D) and each sampling time (1, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days), 20% of the total number of colonies, recovered on MRS agar plate, were randomly selected, purified, checked for catalase activity and Gram reaction, and microscopically examined before storing in liquid culture using 20% (v/v) glycerol at −80°C. Six-hundred (600) LAB isolates were purified and subjected to total genomic DNA (gDNA) extraction following the method described by Pino et al. (2018b). gDNA concentration and quality were evaluated using the Fluorometer Qubit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, 278 CA, USA). Multiplex RecA and Tuf gene species-specific PCR were performed as previously described (Torriani et al., 2001; Ventura et al., 2003), respectively. Strains not identified at species level with species-specific PCR were subjected to 16S rRNA gene PCR-RFLP analysis according to Pino et al. (2018b). For each PCR-RFLP cluster, the 16S rRNA gene PCR amplicon of one representative strain was purified using the Qiaquick PCR purification kit (Qiagen Hilden, Germany) and was subjected to sequencing and Blast analysis.

From each brine samples at each sampling time, as previously reported, 200 colonies were randomly isolated from YM medium, purified, and microscopically examined prior to storing in liquid culture using 20% (v/v) glycerol at −80°C. For the yeasts characterization, DNA was extracted according to Ruiz-Barba et al. (2005) and subjected to repetitive element palindromic (rep)-PCR analysis by using GTG₅ primer. The PCR reaction was carried out in a final volume of 25 μl, containing: 5 μl of DNA, 5 μl 5X PCR Buffer, 1 μl of primer GTG₅ (5-GTGGTGGTGGTGGTG-3), 13.9 μl of filtered water on 0.1 μl of Taq polymerase (Invitrogen, Italy). The amplification program was as follows; an initial denaturation (95°C, 5 min) followed by 30 cycles of denaturation (95°C, 30 s), annealing (40°C, 1 min), and extension (65°C, 8 min) with a single final extension (65°C, 16 min). PCR products were electrophoresed in a 2 % agarose gel in 1X TAE buffer, stained with ethidium bromide (30 min) and visualized under ultraviolet light. The resulting fingerprints were digitally captured and analyzed with the Bionumerics 6.6 software package (Applied Maths, Kortrijk, Belgium). Dendrogram for clustering comparison was built with UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method) method and Pearson correlation.

To validate the clustering analysis and for identification of strains, the 26S rDNA gene of all isolates was further sequenced. The gDNA amplification was performed according to Porrua et al. (2018). PCR products were resolved by electrophoresis on agarose gel (1% w/v) stained with ethidium bromide. DNA ladder plus (Invitrogen, USA) was used to evaluate the molecular weight of amplified DNA. PCR products were purified using Isolate DNA kit (Bioline, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions and quantified by agarose gel electrophoresis (1% w/v) in 0.5X TBE buffer (89 mM Tris-borate, 2 mM EDTA pH 8). An amount of 10 μl of purified product with forward primer NL1 was used for sequencing by Stab Vida (Lisbon, Portugal). Nucleotide sequences were aligned with the software Molecular Evolution Genetic Analysis (MEGA).

Rep-PCR genomic fingerprinting was performed on 79 L. paracasei strains, isolated from F5B, F5D, F8B, and F8D brine samples at 120 days of fermentation, using the (GTG)₅-primer, as described by Versalovic et al. (1994). PCR was carried out in a 20 μl reaction mixture containing 1x Thermo Green buffer (Thermo Scientific, Waltman, MA, USA), 3.0 mM MgCl₂, 200 μM of each dNTP (Fermentas), 1 U of Taq polymerase (Thermo Scientific, Waltman, MA, USA), 2 μM (GTG)₅ primer and 50 ng gDNA. Amplifications were performed in a MyCycler thermal cycler (BioRad, Hercules, CA). The PCR cycling parameters and gel running conditions were set according to Solieri et al. (2012). The only modification was the change of annealing temperature from 40 to 45°C. The GeneRuler 100 bp Plus DNA Ladder (Thermo Scientific, Waltman, MA, USA) was used as a molecular size marker. BioDoc Gel Analyzer device (Biometra GmbH, Germany) was used to capture DNA fingerprint images which were then processed through the BioNumerics software v3.0 (Applied Maths, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium). Repeatability of rep-PCR was assessed using the inoculated strain N24 as internal control. Pearson's correlation similarity coefficient was chosen to calculate bands patterns similarity matrix with optimization and curve smoothening values at 1%. Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis was exploited to build the (GTG)₅-based dendrogram.

VOCs analysis was performed on brine samples at 1, 60, and 120 days of fermentation following method and conditions previously described (Randazzo et al., 2017; Pino et al., 2018a) using a gas chromatography-mass-spectrometry (GC-MS). All analyses were performed in triplicate and the results were expressed as means in μg/l of brine.

Table olives at 120 days of fermentation were subjected to sensory evaluation by trained panelists (6 females and 4 males, aged from 22 to 40 years). Sensory panel was conducted according to the International Olive Council method (International Olive Council, 2011). Descriptors related to negative sensations, gustatory, and kinaesthetic perceptions were evaluated as previously described (International Olive Council, 2011, 2016; Pino et al., 2018a). In addition, the overall acceptability descriptor, such an indication of the overall quality, was also scored. Sensory data were acquired by a direct computerized registration system (FIZZ Biosystemes. Couternon, France).

Microbiological and chemical (i.e., single phenol compounds, pH and acidity) data were analyzed by ANOVA (One-way Analysis of Variance) using Tukey's post-hoc test, in order to assess the overall differences among treatments. The reference level of significance was 0.01 for chemical assay and 0.05 for VOCs and microbiolgical assays. All statistical analyses were performed using MATLAB software (MathWorks, version 8.5.0), while sensory data were analyzed using the software package Statgraphics® Centurion XVI (Statpoint Technologies, INC.) setting samples as treatments. Data correlations between brine samples differently treated and VOCs were computed using XLStat software (version 2016.1).

In Table 1, the results of pH and titratable acidity detected in brine samples analyzed thought the fermentation are shown. At the beginning of fermentation, pH values ranged from 5.8 to 6.3, and then they decreased after 30 days. Differences among samples become more appreciable after 60 days of fermentation with the lowest values showed by F5B and F8C samples. At the end of fermentation (120 days) the pH fitted the hygienic limit of 4.3 in all samples (Table 1).

The titratable acidity values exhibited an increasing trend in all samples with the exception of F8A and F8B brines, which slightly decreased in acidity at 120 days. The highest acidity values were detected in brines at 5% of NaCl (F5A, F5B, F5C, and F5D). In addition, a significant increase in acidity was recorded after the addition of N24 strain (90 days) mainly in F5B and F5D samples (Table 1).

Results of hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleuropein, and verbascoside quantification are shown in Table 2. Overall, all polyphenols analyzed showed an increasing trend during the fermentation mainly in 5% NaCl brine samples inoculated with starter culture. The highest values of hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and verbascoside were mainly recorded in brines inoculated with L. plantarum F3.3 starter culture already at 30 days. Similar behavior was observed for oleuropein.

Table 3 shown microbial counts of brine samples at both 5 and 8% of NaCl, which is expressed as log cfu/ml. Viable mesophilic bacteria showed different trend among samples. In detail, brines at 5% of NaCl (F5A–F5D), from an initial average value of 7.11 log unit, exhibited a steady trend during the fermentation with slight decrease of cell density after 60 days. Similar behavior was observed for brine samples at 8% of NaCl (F8A–F8D) which showed a mean initial value of 6.73 log unit and a final mean value of 5.56 log unit (Table 3). Regarding LAB population, all brine samples inoculated with starter culture (F5A, F5B, F8A, F8B) presented, at the beginning of fermentation, higher cell density than spontaneous ones (F5C, F5D, F8C, F8D). From 60 to 120 days, LAB reached the highest values in samples inoculated with the potential probiotic N24 strain (F5B, F5D, F8B, F8D). Yeasts were present at an initial level of about 3 log cfu/ml in all experimental brines with the exception of F5A and F5B samples which exhibited initial value of 4.04 and 4.37 log cfu/ml, respectively (Table 3). The yeasts cell densities significantly increased thought the fermentation process, achieving, at 120 days, an average value of 7.37 log unit and 6.64 log unit in brine samples at 5 and 8% of NaCl, respectively. Regarding the staphylococci count, only coagulase negative staphylococci, forming red colonies in the medium, were enumerated and their level, at the beginning of the fermentation, was quite similar among all samples. After a slight increase till 60 days, a decrease to final average values of 3.0 and 3.8 log cfu/ml was achieved in 5 and 8% brine samples, respectively. Similar behavior was observed for enterobacteria counts, which significantly decreased through the fermentation process. At the end of fermentation (120 days) this microbial group was detected, at value below 2 log, in brine samples at 8% of NaCl and below the detection limit in samples at 5% of NaCl, with the exception of the F5D sample. E. coli was never detected in any brine samples analyzed (data not shown).

Six hundred isolates from MRS agar plates were considered LAB based on their positive Gram reaction, non-motility, absence of catalase activity and spore formation, as well as rod or coccal shape. RecA and Tuf gene species-specific PCRs revealed the presence of strains belonging to L. plantarum, Lactobacillus pentosus, L. paracasei, and Lactobacillus casei species. The distribution of lactobacilli at different sampling times is reported in Figure 1A and their occurrence in the different brine samples is showed in Figure 1B. Isolates not identified at species level were indicated as “others.” Evaluating the distribution of LAB strains through the fermentation, results indicated that L. plantarum and L. pentosus represented the dominant species at the beginning of the process (till 30th days) and a high occurrence of L. paracasei species was detected up to 60 days. Whereas, the highest occurrence of L. casei strains was achieved at 120 days (Figure 1A). Zooming on the fermentation at different salt content (5 and 8%) differently inoculated, results showed the dominance of L. plantarum strains in samples inoculated with starter, the highest occurrence of L. casei and L. pentosus in spontaneous samples (F5C, F8C, F5D, F8D) and of L. paracasei in samples inoculated with the probiotic strain N24 (Figure 1B).

Isolates not identified initially with recA and Tuf gene primer pairs were subjected to PCR-RFLP analysis of the 16SrDNA and clustered into four different groups (data not shown). One representative isolate for each cluster was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and were deposited in the GenBank database. The species attribution and the accession numbers of the sequenced strains were as follows (isolates code in parentheses): Leuconostoc mesenteroides MK085109 (F5C.1), Lactococcus lactis MK085110 (F5B.38), Lactobacillus brevis MK085111 (F5D.44), and Enterococcus faecium MK085112 (F5A.21).

Two-hundred yeast isolates were randomly obtained during the fermentation process. The dendogram generated by rep-PCR with primer GTG₅ showed that the isolates formed 17 groups clearly differentiated. The most numerous groups belonged to the Wickerhamomyces anomalus and Candida boidinii species, although representatives of Candida diddensiae, Pichia kluyveri and Meyerozyma guillermondii were also identified (Figure 2A).

The evolution of the different yeast species throughout the fermentative process is presented in Figure 2B. At this regard, W. anomalus and C. boidinii formed a stable dual species consortium through the fermentation, since they were both detected more frequently than others species, with a mean frequency of 49 and 37%, respectively. Indeed, these species were dominant in all brine samples differently treated (Figure 2C). The rest of the species were isolated at very low mean frequencies; in particular, M. guillermondii (1.97%) was detected only in samples at 8% of NaCl till 30th days of fermentation, whereas, P. kluyveri (2.98%) in samples F5A, F5D, and F8D till 60 days and C. diddensiae (5.87%) was detected starting from the 30th day of fermentation only in brines at 8% of NaCl (Figure 2C).

The presence of inoculated strain N24 was assessed at 120 days of fermentation by rep-PCR with primer GTG₅ on a pool of 79 L. paracasei isolates from samples F5B, F5D, F8B, and F8D. Preliminarily, the rep-PCR repeatability was evaluated using gDNA from strain N24 as internal control in four different gels, obtaining a similarity of 74.3% (data not shown). Accordingly, this value was retained as similarity threshold to establish the identity of isolates compared to the rep-PCR profile of promising probiotic strain N24. The dendrogram generated using the GTG₅-based patterns of L. paracasei isolates revealed the presence of four major clusters (from A to D) and four singleton L. paracasei isolates below 74.3% similarity (Figure 3; Supplementary Figure 1). The cluster analysis showed that the major cluster A grouped both the inoculated strain N24 and 48 out of 79 isolates, indicating that these isolates were assimilated to the N24 strain profile. The majority of them were isolated from samples F5B and F8B, over the indigenous L. paracasei isolates. In detail, out of 48, 18 strains were isolated from F5B, 12 from F8B, 10 from F5D, and 8 from F8D. The remaining isolates belonged to clusters B, C, and D.

Results of VOCs of different brine samples at 60 and 120 days of fermentation are reported in Table 4. Overall, 46 compounds as acids, alcohols, esters, aldehydes, and phenols were identified, exhibiting a growing trend through the fermentation, with the exception of samples F5A, F5D, F8A, and F8D. The highest value was registered in samples F8C, with a value of 2,739.17 μg/l. Alcohols were the most abundant compounds, followed by esters and acids, whereas aldehydes and phenols were detected at lower concentrations. Focusing on each compound, among alcohols, ethanol dominated the fermentation process showing an increase only in spontaneous samples (F5C and F8C), followed by isoamylalcohol and phenylethylalcohol, which registered a variable trend through the fermentation (Table 4). Ethyl-acetate and methyl 2-methylbutanoate were the main detected esters. Among acids, the acetic acid was the most abundant compound, with the highest value in F5C and F8C samples. The most abundant aldehydes and phenols were nonanal, benzaldehyde and creasol, respectively (Table 4).

Figure 4 shows correlation between VOCs and brine samples differently treated. Overall, it is possible to point out that the salt concentration did not influence the VOCs formation through fermentation in brine samples, which were mainly grouped based on the treatment (starter and/or probiotic addition and spontaneous). In detail, samples inoculated with starter (F5A and F8A) were clustered together, showing a negative correlation with alcohol and ester compounds; spontaneous brine samples inoculated with the probiotic strain N24 (F5D and F8D) were negatively correlated to phenols, aldehydes and alcohols. Different correlations were detected for samples inoculated with both starter and probiotic strains (F5B and F8B). In particular, sample F8B at 60 and 120 days of fermentation were grouped together, exhibiting a positive correlation with alcohols and acids and a negative correlation with phenols and aldehydes (Figure 4). Evaluating sample F5B, it is possible to assert that VOCs formation was strongly influenced by the fermentation time. In fact, the sample F5B at 120 days revealed a distinct VOCs profile, displaying a positive correlation with esters, acids, and phenols. Similarly, spontaneous fermentation samples (F5C and F8C) were grouped based on fermentation time, showing a divergent VOCs profile through the fermentation.

Table 5 shown results of sensory analysis. Overall, none negative sensation was perceived, as deduced by the low scores attributed by panelist to these descriptors. No statistically significant differences were achieved among samples for hardness, fibrousness, and crunchiness. Among gustatory descriptors, higher scores for acidity were attributed to un-inoculated brine samples at both 5 and 8% of NaCl (F5C and F8C), while higher bitterness score was observed in samples without the addition of the β-glucosidase L. plantarum strain (F5C, F5D, F8C, and F8D). Finally, F5B and F8B samples received higher scores for the overall acceptability descriptor.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.