Fermented Meat Products — An Overview

Fermented meats are meat products that owe, at least partially, their characteristic properties to the activity of microorganisms. They may be subdivided into fermented sausages (made from comminuted meat) and meat products prepared by salting/curing entire muscles or cuts, followed by an ageing period in which enzymes (mostly meat proteases) bring about tenderness and flavor. In this chapter, such products are referred to as “ripened meats” (see also Toldrá 2015). Bacon and dried meats such as jerky and biltong are not considered here since there is little, if any, effect of microbial or tissue enzymes on their characteristics.