ABSTRACT
Fermented foods can be defined as products whose specific properties are mainly due to the effects of bacterial metabolism during their manufacture. Although meat products are not the most representative examples of fermented foods, it is clear that microbes contribute to both the conserving and flavoring effects of salt added to meat, a practice dating back to the Neolithicage (e.g., between 5 and 10,000 years ago) (1). Such contribution is evident when the meat surface flora is evenly distributed by chopping, grinding, or comminution of the meat together with the salt. The stuffing of such mixture into a casing produces a sausage, a product first referred to in writing by Homer in 900 B.C. Centuries before Christ, a similar product (lup-cheong) was already produced in China; more sugar, however, than salt was added as preservative. Since these beginnings, variable degrees of mixing and comminution of different meats with salt, together with spices, herbs, and other plant material have been applied; this produced a range of products, the stability of which is mainly determined by a combination, varying in relative importance, of
Acidulation, brought about by lactic acid production, and Lowering of water activity (aw), brought about by the addition of salt
(curing) and drying.
