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 flavouring effects of salt added to meat, a practice dating back to the Neolithicum, e.g. anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago (1). Such contributions are 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 Homerus in 900 BC. Centuries BC, a similar product (« lup-cheong ») was already produced in China, adding more sugar however than salt as a 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, resulting in a range of products, the stability of which is mainly determined by a combinations, 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.
