Effect of different strategies of Lactobacillus plantarum incorporation in chorizo sausages

[Background]: Chorizo is a high-value Spanish-type dry fermented sausage, highly appreciated by consumers. In this kind of product, Lactobacillus plantarum plays an important role in the fermentation process and can also be considered as a probiotic. The impact of different strategies for incorporating probiotic L. plantarum into the physico-chemical, microbiological, and sensorial characteristics of chorizo sausages was studied. These strategies were: free cells (Cfc); alginate beads (Calg); water-in-oil emulsion (Cwo), and water-in-oil-in-water emulsion (Cwow). Proximate composition, weight loss, pH, aw , color, and microbiological behavior were evaluated during the ripening (20 days) of chorizo.

[Results]: The strategy of incorporating L. plantarum significantly affected the proximate composition, pH, and aw of sausages. However, the traditional red color of chorizo was maintained for all formulations. The incorporation of probiotics as free cells or encapsulated in alginate beads resulted in higher counts of lactic acid bacteria and L. plantarum, lower counts of Enterobacteriaceae, and in acceptable sensory scores.

[Conclusion]: Overall, the quality of chorizo sausages was conditioned by the incorporation strategy, and the addition of probiotics in alginate beads (Calg) was the most effective strategy.

This research was supported by projects AGL 2011‐29644‐C02‐01 of the Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarollo e Innovación Tecnológica (I+D+I) Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Intramural Project 201447E073 and project MEDGAN‐CM S2013/ABI2913 of CAM and ESI financial. The authors would like to thank CAPES, Ministry of Education of Brazil, for the fellowship to Carlos Pasqualin Cavalheiro through the BEX 8146/2014‐4 process. Claudia Ruiz‐Capillas is a member of the HealthyMeat network, funded by CYTED (ref. 119RT0568).

Peer reviewed