**Emiel Van Reckem, Christina Charmpi, David Van der Veken, Wim Borremans, Luc De Vuyst, Stefan Weckx and Frédéric Leroy \***

Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology (IMDO), Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium; Emiel.Van.Reckem@vub.be (E.V.R.); Christina.Charmpi@vub.be (C.C.); David.Van.Der.Veken@vub.be (D.V.d.V.); Wim.Borremans@vub.be (W.B.); Luc.De.Vuyst@vub.be (L.D.V.); Stefan.Weckx@vub.be (S.W.) **\*** Correspondence: frederic.leroy@vub.be; Tel.: +32-629-3612

Received: 18 August 2020; Accepted: 3 September 2020; Published: 7 September 2020

**Abstract:** Insight into the microbial species diversity of fermented meats is not only paramount to gain control over quality development, but also to better understand the link with processing technology and geographical origin. To study the composition of the microbial communities, the use of culture-independent methods is increasingly popular but often still suffers from drawbacks, such as a limited taxonomic resolution. This study aimed to apply a previously developed high-throughput amplicon sequencing (HTS) method targeting the 16S rRNA and *tuf* genes to characterize the bacterial communities in European fermented meats in greater detail. The data obtained broadened the view on the microbial communities that were associated with the various products examined, revealing the presence of previously underreported subdominant species. Moreover, the composition of these communities could be linked to the specificities of individual products, in particular pH, salt content, and geographical origin. In contrast, no clear links were found between the volatile organic compound profiles of the different products and the country of origin, distinct processing conditions, or microbial communities. Future application of the HTS method offers the potential to further unravel complex microbial communities in fermented meats, as well as to assess the impact of different processing conditions on microbial consortia.

**Keywords:** staphylococci; lactic acid bacteria; fermented meats; high-throughput sequencing; microbiota
