Biochemical Changes during the Manufacture of Galician Chorizo Sausage as Affected by the Addition of Autochthonous Starter Cultures

Abstract

In this work, the effect of the use of two autochthonous starter cultures (Lactobacillus sakei LS131 + Staphylococcus equorum SA25 (EQU), or L. sakei LS131 + Staphylococcus saprophyticus SB12 (SAP)) on the physicochemical, microbiological, proteolytic and lipolytic changes taking place during the manufacture of Galician chorizo, a traditional Spanish sausage, was studied. Three different batches (control (CNT), EQU and SAP) were manufactured in triplicate and analysed during the manufacturing process (samples were taken and analysed at 0, 2, 5, 9, 14, 21 and 30 days of ripening) for proximate composition, pH, aw, colour parameters, nitrogen fractions, free amino acids, biogenic amines, fat parameters and free fatty acids. The use of either of these two starter cultures slightly but significantly reduced the pH values during the fermentation and increased the percentage of transformation to nitrosyl-heme pigments as well as the a* and b* values in the final products. The two starters significantly decreased the Enterobacteriaceae counts in the final product, but without this microbial group completely disappearing. Both starter cultures significantly increased the α-amino acidic nitrogen and the total basic volatile nitrogen fractions during manufacturing, also increasing the free amino acid content and reducing the total biogenic amine content by approximately 20%. The SAP starter enhanced the lipolytic processes, increasing the free fatty acid content. Due to their performances, these two starter cultures seem to be suitable for increasing the quality and safety of the Galician chorizo sausage.

High pressure processing at the early stages of ripening enhances the safety and quality of dry fermented sausages elaborated with or without starter culture

“…2. The initial pH at day 0 in DFS without starter culture added and without HPP (A-INP), was 6.0 ± 0.1, which is in agreement with results from previous studies with south European DFS (Juárez-Castelán et al, 2019;Martín et al, 2021;Rodríguez-González, Fonseca, Centeno, & Carballo, 2020). The pH drop was more pronounced initially in sausages with starter (p < 0.05), similar to what Latorre-Moratalla et al ( 2007) found.…”

Mediterranean Spontaneously Fermented Sausages: Spotlight on Microbiological and Quality Features to Exploit Their Bacterial Biodiversity

“…In fact, chorizo samples showed a very low pH (between 4.52 and 5.04), while the salchichón had a pH ranging from 5.13 to 5.83. There are different set of data reported in the literature for chorizo characteristics, and among them the pH can vary: results of Galician chorizo showed a pH value of about 5.6 [24], while Asturian products had pH between 5.0 and 5.1 [25].…”

Sausages: Nutrition, Safety, Processing and Quality Improvement

“…In local varieties of fermented sausages having a strong personality and with defined and loyal markets, the use of autochthonous starter cultures is the most appropriate way to obtain manufactured products that are uniform, of high and constant quality and that retain the differentiated attributes of their homonyms artisanally obtained through spontaneous fermentations. Rodríguez-González et al [ 13 ] studied the effect of the addition of two different autochthonous starter cultures including one strain of Lactobacillus sakei and one of Staphylococcus equorum or Staphylococcus saprophyticus on the biochemical changes occurring during the manufacture of Galician chorizo sausage, the most popular traditional meat product in the NW Spain. Along the manufacture of three independent batches made with each of the two starter cultures, they studied the changes in proximate composition, pH, Aw, color parameters, nitrogen fractions, free amino acids, biogenic amines, fat parameters, and free fatty acids.…”