16S rRNA gene nucleotide sequence (A) and MALDI-TOF MS (B) analysis of the bacterial community structure on endive along the processing chain. The number of analysed sequences (raw material – 50 sequences, cut lettuce – 87 sequences, washed lettuce – 13 sequences, spin-dried (ready to pack) lettuce – 10 sequences) and colonies (raw material – 492 colonies, cut lettuce – 428 colonies, washed lettuce – 338 colonies, spin-dried (ready to eat) lettuce– 284 colonies) varied between samples.