•Effect of fresh pork meat conditioning on quality characteristics of salami
•Abstract
The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of pork meat conditioning under different relative humidity (RH) values on salami quality characteristics. During a 6 days conditioning period at 0 °C under two levels of RH (95% vs. 80%), meat pH and weight loss were measured. Salami characteristics (moisture, weight loss, texture, appearance properties) were evaluated during 20 days of ripening. Results showed that conditioning at 80% RH yielded a significantly drier meat, being the weight loss rate 1.6 times higher than at 95% RH. The lower water content of meat allowed a shorter salami ripening phase, guaranteeing an appropriate weight loss and the development of the desired texture, while maintaining good appearance properties. The acceleration of this production phase represents a clear economic advantage for producers and consumers, leading to higher profit margins and lower retail prices. The possibility of using FT-NIR spectroscopy as a valid tool for the rapid evaluation of salami ripening was also demonstrated.
•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