Physico - chemical and colour properties of homemade slavonian sausage

www.meso.hr Introduction The traditional Croatian dry sausages are, in almost all cases, fermented sausages that undergo more or less prolonged process of smoking and drying–ripening before consumption. The most represented Croatian dry fermented sausage except for Slavonian Kulen is Slavonian homemade Sausage. Slavonian homemade Sausage is a traditional meat product from Eastern Croatia, Slavonia region, with speci!c sensorial properties (smell and taste), which mainly originate from being dried and smoked, and from ripening and enzymatic and lactic acid bacteria activity. It is produced according to a traditional procedure, from minced pork, with the addition of salt, red paprika, hot paprika and garlic. The mixtures are stu"ed into natural casings (a pig’s thin intestine, lat. intestinum tenue). After stu#ng, the sausages undergo a smoking and drying–ripening process. The most demanding operation in production is the ripening stage. The coherence of the processing parameters (temperature, relative humidity and air velocity) in ripening chambers are the most important, because they have the largest impact on the sensorial properties (smell, taste, colour and texture) of the !nished product. The production of traditional Slavonian homemade Sausage mainly takes place on small farms in small amounts and it is seasonal in character. Because of that, there is a great need for the standardization of production. Similar products from Spain (Chorizo de Pamplona and Salchichón) and Italy (Felino and Milano salami) have been intensively studied for their physical-chemical composition colour and sensorial properties