Sensory properties of traditionally fermented Levačka sausage | Senzorske osobine levačke kobasice proizvedene na tradicionalan način

In the paper are presented the results of the sensory properties of Levačka sausage, manufactured in a traditional way of production. Simultaneously, colour and firmness of the sausages were determined instrumentally. Sausages were produced in three intervals: September (the first fermentation – I F), October (the second fermentation – II F) and November (the third fermentation – III F). Using the quantitative-descriptive test, sausages’ sensory properties were analysed by means of grading on a scale from one to ten (colour, smell, fat quality, juiciness, tenderness, taste, after taste and overall acceptability). In regard to the overall acceptability, Levačka sausage in the third fermentation (8,00 +/- 0.00) was better evaluated than in the first fermentation (5.20 +/- 0.45) and the difference between them was highly statistically significant (p is less than 0.001). Comparing the overall acceptability of Levačka sausages from the F III (8.00 +/- 0.00) and Levačka sausages from the F II (6.90 +/- 0.22), the difference was also statistically highly significant (p is less than 0,001). The results of cut surface color showed that sausage from III F (45.40 +/- 1.36) and I F (44.17 +/- 1.43) had higher L-value compared to sausages from II F (39.27 +/- 0.26) and differences were statistically significant (p is less than 0.01). The greatest penetration and cutting force (measure of firmness) were determined in the sausage samples from the I F (17.93 +/- 2.10; 120.97 +/- 12.58), slightly lower in the III F samples (14.38 +/- 0.82; 99.40 +/- 7.67) and the lowest in the II F sausage samples (11.16 +/- 1.21; 91.45 +/- 4.14). Differences were statistically significant (p is less than 0.05). On the basis of the obtained results it can be concluded that the best sensory properties of fermented sausages can be achieved when production is carried out in late autumn which is the common period for traditional production of Levačka sausage.