The greatest microbial stability was observed in the kimchi-powder
sausages. In addition, these sausages also showed the greatest inhibition
of the growth of the tested meat-spoiling microorganisms including
Enterobacteriaceae (Table 5), especially during the later stage of
the ripening. Such an excellent microbiological stability in the
kimchi-powder sausages can be explained by the low aw values. Water
activity is regarded as the determinant hurdle for the microbiological
stability of slow-ripened or long-ripened sausages in which the pH is
again rising and the residual nitrite content is low during the later
stages of production. During this stage, the bacterial count of the competitive
flora also decreases. Leistner (1984) noted that the microbiological
stability during the later stage is primarily achieved by
lowering the aw value, and therefore, the low aw values of the sausage
samples treated with kimchi-powder may induce a synergistic effect
in the interaction of a series of hurdles comprised in sequence during
processing, leading to their microbial stability. As a result, it is assumed
that the use of kimchi-powder as an additive for fermented sausage
could lead to an additional hurdle effect along with useful LAB and antimicrobial
compounds.