Within the present study, an increase in
pH during the ripening period was observed in all batches except for
the batch containing 5% KPS. Additionally, the kimchi sausages clearly
showed higher pH values than those of the control as well as the 2%
KPS sausages. The high water content of kimchi likely facilitated the
growth of microorganisms, which in turn contributed to proteolysis
and catabolism of amino acids in conjunction with the degradation of
lactic acid. Indeed, the kimchi sausages generally showed higher numbers
of Micrococus (5.5–6.2log10cfu/g), Bacillus spp. (3.4–5.1log10cfu/g)
and yeasts and molds (3.30–7.45log10cfu/g) during ripening than
those of the control (0–5.3log10cfu/g, 2.4–3.7log10cfu/g, 4.08–7.20) or
kimchi-powder sausages (4.0–5.0log10cfu/g, not detected, 3.00–6.92),
respectively (Tables 5 and 6). The primary reason for the appearance of
yeasts andmolds in this study was likely the lack of smoking,whichwas
excluded intentionally to eliminate its influence on the microbiological
characteristics and flavour of the sausages.