Effects of pure starter cultures on physico-chemical and sensory quality of dry fermented Chinese-style sausage.

Dry fermented Chinese-style sausages prepared in laboratory inoculating with Lactobacillus casei subsp. casei-1.001, Pediococcus pentosaceus-ATCC 33316, Staphylococcus xylosus-12 and without starter culture randomly sampled at 0, 3, 10, and 24 days of ripening were analyzed for physico-chemical and sensory qualities. A significant (p<0.05) decrease in moisture content of sausage during ripening was observed, whereas other major chemical parameters remained unchanged. The microbial fermentation resulted in decreased pH and nitrite but increased non protein nitrogen and total volatile basic nitrogen in the products. Starter cultures except P. Pentosaceous-ATCC 33316, used in the sausage failed to suppress rancidity in ripened product as indicated by a significant (p<0.05) rise in thiobarbituric acid. The lightness (L) and yellowness (b) in the colour of all sausages decreased with ripening time, meanwhile the redness (a) increased significantly (p<0.05) in sausages inoculated with cultures L. casei subsp. casei-1.001 and S. xylosus-12. The texture profile of sausages was almost similar except for P. Pentosaceous-ATCC 33316, which showed significantly (p<0.05) lower hardness and gumminess. Based on the sensory and physico-chemical quality criteria, S. xylosus-12 could be used as a starter culture to produce dry fermented Chinese-style sausage of high quality.