The objective of this study is to analyze the competiveness of the Mato Grosso bovine meat in view of the international market through researching the factors that most influenced the performance of the Mato Grosso bovine meat exports from 1996 to 2010. Specifically, the aim was to verify if the Mato Grosso bovine meat contains competitive sustainable advantages to maintain its international market position and if it is possible to increase its market share. To do so, a comparison of the competitiveness of bovine meat export of Mato Grosso was performed. Also, the competitiveness of the Brazilian meat exports was compared with that of other main exporters of this product, namely, Australia, Argentina and the United States through the use of the Constant Market Share Model (CMS). The obtained results of CMS with respect to Mato Grosso made it possible to verify that competitiveness was not a dominant factor throughout the whole period and that Mato Grosso will be able to maintain its position in the world market and expand its market share further. These results are caused by the destination of the exports and the increase of global trade rather than competitiveness.

Um total de 285 amostras de carnes e produtos cárneos foi avaliado para detecção de culturas produtoras de bacteriocinas pelo método do "sanduíche". A partir de 174 destas amostras, 813 linhagens de bactérias lácticas com atividade inibitória sobre Staphylococcus aureus CTC 033 e/ou Listeria innocua Lin 11 foram isoladas. Quando examinadas pelo método de antagonismo simultâneo em poços, 128 destas linhagens inibiram o crescimento dos microrganismos indicadores. O espectro de atividade das linhagens isoladas foi avaliado com diversos microrganismos Gram-positivos e Gram-negativos. De um modo geral, S. aureus foi o microrganismo indicador mais sensível, enquanto Enterococcus faecalis e Lactobacillus plantarum foram os mais resistentes. Todos os compostos antimicrobianos produzidos pelas bactérias lácticas testadas foram completa ou parcialmente inativados por enzimas proteolíticas, o que indica sua natureza protéica. A atividade antimicrobiana das bacteriocinas produzidas pelas linhagens de bactérias lácticas isoladas neste trabalho pode atuar como uma barreira potencial para inibir o crescimento de bactérias deterioradoras e patogênicas de origem alimentar.

A total of 285 samples of meat and meat products were evaluated for the presence of bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria by the "sandwich" test. From 174 of these samples, 813 strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated. They were able to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus CTC 33 and/or Listeria innocua Lin 11. When evaluated by the well-diffusion assay, 128 of these strains inhibited the growth of the indicator strains. The inhibitory spectra of activity of the isolates were evaluated against a range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative test organisms. S. aureus was the most sensitive indicator tested, whereas Enterococcus faecalis and Lactobacillus plantarum were the most resistant ones. All the compounds produced by the lactic acid bacteria were fully or partially inactivated by some of the proteolytic enzymes, which indicates their proteinaceous nature. The antimicrobial activity of the bacteriocins produced by the lactic acid bacteria isolated in this work could act as a potential barrier to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria and foodborne pathogens.