Physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of diverse Spanish cured meat products

Abstract

A study about the influence of commercial packaging on physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of Spanish cured meat products was performed. For this purpose, 100 samples of fermented sausages (FS) and pieces of cured meat (P) were analyzed. Results for mean pH values were 5.12 (FS) and between 5.79–5.83 (P). All mean values for aw were under 0.90. Mean counts for mesophilic aerobic bacteria were more than 8 log cfu/g (FS) and they were between 4.47 and 7.61 log cfu/g (P). Microbiological groups of Enterobacteriaceae were not detected in more than two-thirds of the samples. The presence of Staphylococcus aureus was frequent. Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes were detected, after enrichment, in 4 and 5 samples, respectively. Clostridium botulinum was not detected. A statistically significant (p < 0.05) absence of enterobacteria was observed in packaged samples.