•Salami are typical European dry fermented sausages manufactured mainly with pork meat and fat, with the addition of salt, curing agents (nitrate and/or nitrite), spices, sugars and eventually starter cultures. The manufacture of salami is highly complex because, apart from product parameters, several external factors affect the characteristics of the final product. Temperature, relative humidity and air velocity in the fermentation and ripening rooms as well as ripening time deter- mine the drop in pH and water activity (aw) of salami, thus greatly affecting color, taste, flavor and texture (Feiner, 2006).
•In particular, ripening is considered one of the most important stages in salami production, because it has a primary influence on physical, chemical, and microbiological characteristics of final dry fermented pork products. Some major quality and safety standards, such as the product weight loss, the seasoning uniformity, the presence of inner fissures, as well as the whole chemical and microbiological