Salmonella spp. counts (Table 4) decreased after smoking about
2 log CFU/g and was not detectable after 21 day of drying
(p < 0.001). The antimicrobial effect of the EOs was significant
(p < 0.05) with exception of nutmeg EO. Among them, the inhibitory
effect of EOs at 0.05% of garlic and oregano was evident after
smoking, resulting in lower counting when EO was used, when
compared to the control. This pathogen was not detected in
chouriço manufactured with 0.05% of bay, oregano or thyme EOs
after 12 days of drying. With the lowest level of addition of the last,
Salmonella spp. was also undetectable. The interaction between the
level of addition and the processing phase on the count of Salmonella
spp. was significant for those batches made with EOs of bay,
garlic, nutmeg and oregano. That interaction revealed that the
presence of EOs, or its higher level of addition, when associated to
the processing, reduces the time necessary to decrease pathogen
counts. Although the influence of EO addition or processing phase
was significant for dry cured sausage chouriço made with EOs of
rosemary and thyme, their combination not influenced the microbial
decrease.