Effect of nitrate and nitrite curing salts on microbial changes and sensory quality of non-fermented sausages

Effect of the Change of Nitrite Content in Natural Fermentation on the Edible Security of Chinese Sauerkraut

During the course of fermentation of Chinese sauerkraut, it would produce nitrite. However, the presence of nitrite made Chinese sauerkraut cause edible security problem. In this study, the change regularity of nitrite during natural fermentation was analysed, and the best edible time was determined. The results showed that content of nitrite was increased in the early stage of fermentation, after reaching to a peaking content, it reduced significantly to a low level, and then it changed little at the mature stage. That is to say, it could guarantee the edible security when Chinese sauerkraut matured.

Changes of physicochemical, microbiological, and textural properties during ripening of Italian low-acid sausages. Proteolysis, sensory and volatile profiles

In this study low-acid sausages were studied to characterize their physicochemical, microbiological, and textural properties during ripening. The final a(w) was 0.87-0.88, whereas pH values stayed around their initial values during processing. Lactic acid bacteria increased very slowly in number and a small increase of Micrococcaceae was also noticed. Low-acid sausages showed low hardness and cohesiveness, and were easily distinguishable by sensory analysis from other industrial and artisan sausages. Under the conditions of the study, observed volatile compounds were mainly from spices and wine. The respective contribution of muscle and indigenous bacterial enzymes to proteolysis was determined by comparing changes in low-acid sausages to those containing an antibiotic-antimycotic mixture or sugar. A large part of the degradation of myofibrillar proteins appeared due to endogenous enzymes, although bacterial proteinases contributed to the degradation of these proteins. The role of microorganisms in proteolysis was more evident in the degradation of sarcoplasmic proteins.