In relation to the typical microbiota (Fig. 3), LAB counts followed
the usual pattern of dry fermented sausages, with a rapid increase to
8–9 log cfu/g during fermentation, followed by stabilization along
ripening and storage. No differences (P N 0.05) were observed among
batches. Although, GCC+ showed in all batches the typical behavior
reported for these products, a significant effect of nitrate/nitrite
concentration (P b 0.05) was observed, with counts ranging from 4 to
6.5 log cfu/g at the end of ripening. Thus, batch C showed approximately
1 log cfu/g higher numbers of this microbial group than LN sausages,
and around 2 log cfu/g than MN and HN. The differences were slightly
reduced after 30 days of cold storage.