shows that the bio-protective cultures improved the sensory attributes of the hamburgers. Sensory analyses were performed by 12 non-professional panellists. Cooked burgers from 4 lots, containing each 10 packages,were evaluated. The panellists were asked to identify the products in descending order from the best to the worst, taking into account the following parameters: odour (fermented, rancid),taste (sweet, sour, fresh, pungent, meat-taste, rancid) and flavour(ammonia, sweet, sour, bitter). Results is Hamburgers with bio-protective cultures did not
present odours, flavours or sticky white slime that are indicative of spoilage. In contrast, a sticky white slime was observed in some hamburgers from lots 1 and 2. In lot 2, this may have been due to
the rapid growth of the bio-protective cultures, as the concentration of LAB (9 log CFU/g) was significantly higher than in the other lots (p < 0.05). The panellists preferred the taste of the hamburgers from lots 3 and 4, which contained bio-protective inoculations of Lactococcus lactis spp. lactis/L. sakei S. xylosus (ratio of 1/1) and L. sakei subsp. carnosus/L. sakei S. xylosus (ratio of 1/2), respectively.These microorganisms seemed to have improved the sensory quality of the hamburgers and inhibited the growth of autochthonous bacteria.