Sliced saveloy sampleswere inoculated with monocultures of four potential spoilage bacteria and studied during
a four week storage period. The objective was to investigate the resulting changes in the composition of Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOCs) and the sensory quality of the product. Based on the sensory scores and the VOC
composition Brochothrix thermosphacta, Chryseomonas luteola and Carnobacterium maltaromaticum were found
to have a high spoilage potential in saveloy samples subjected to consumer simulated storage during the fourth
week. Inoculation with Leuconostoc carnosum only resulted in a low level of spoilage. The sensory changes in the
saveloy samples were modeled based on the VOC composition using Partial Least Squares Regression. The
changes in the six sensory descriptors were closely related to the amount of diacetyl, acetoin, 2- and
3-methylbutanol, 2- and 3-methylbutanal and 2-methylpropanol found in the samples. These compounds are
therefore potentially important for the shelf-life of sliced saveloy.