Determination of Bacterial Community Structure of Table Olive via Metagenomic Approach in Şarköy

Abstract

One of the most popular pickled foods created worldwide is table olives. The aim was to identify the bacterial microbiota of table olive samples collected from Şarköy, Tekirdağ‐Türkiye using next generation sequencing and 16S metagenomic analysis. Samples were studied as non‐pre‐enriched (n:10) and after pre‐enrichment (n:10) to compare the effects of the enrichment process on the bacterial diversity. In non‐pre‐enriched, the most common genus found was Sphingomonas, followed by Altererythrobacter and Lysobacter. The most common phylum found was Proteobacteria, followed by Bacteroidota and Actinobacteria. In pre‐enriched, Bacillus was the most commonly detected genus, followed by Pantoea and Staphylococcus. The most frequently found phylum was Firmicutes, followed by Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria. This study is the first study for Şarköy, which is the only table olive production place in the Tekirdağ region due to its microclimate feature. Further studies are needed in more table olive samples from different geographical areas to confirm and develop current findings.