Abstract:The physicochemical properties and microbial flora of fermented sausages were investigated when three composite starters (VBL-9, VBM-60, and SHI-59) and a single-organism starter (BOM-13) were used during production. The results showed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were the dominant species during fermentation and maturation processes using all four starters. In all mature sausages, LAB counts reached 7.21 to 8.13 log cfu/g and the Staphylococcus count (except with BOM-13) was >5.50 log cfu/g, while the Enterobacteriaceae count was <3 log cfu/g. In case of the starter BOM-13, composed of Lactobacillus sakei, sausage fermentation and ripening took longer and therefore, the values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, 0.84 mg/100 g) and non-protein nitrogen (NPN, 0.46%) were higher than those of the other three groups. Thus, fermenting conditions (temperature and time) and ripening time for the sausages depended on the composition of the starter used. All starters tested in this study produced high-quality sausages (pH < 5.3; water activity (Aw) < 0.82; TBARS < 1.0 mg/kg; high NPN value; LAB (dominant bacteria) count > 7.0 log cfu/g, and Enterobacteriaceae count < 3.0 log cfu/g). The starter VBL-97 showed strong acidification capabilities and antioxidant capacity, whereas the highest degree of protein decomposition occurred with starter BOM-13.
