FIGURE 3.

Temporal analysis of an active Wiltshire brine sampled over 40 days. Samples were taken from the same curing container on Day 0, Day 20, and Day 40 in three sampling replicates (A–C). The brine was replenished with half old and half freshly prepared brine (Day 0) and meat cured as normal. As usual practice the “spent” brine is replenished again after approximately 40 days. Before replenishment we sampled the brine for the Day 40 microbiome. The core microbiome in all of the brine samples consists of Marinilactibacillus, Carnobacterium, Leuconostoc, Marinomonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Vibrio, and “Other.” While each of the dominant bacteria are present at each timepoint, there are temporal changes observed in each of the genera present.