Ambient conditions during production of traditional Portuguese dry sausages

Abstract

Final quality of dry sausages, mainly sanitary and sensorial characteristics, is strongly determined by temperature and humidity during curing period.

Three different lots of paio de porco Alentejano, a traditional Portuguese dry sausage, from two different factories from Alentejo were assessed. The factories were from distinct areas of Alentejo and one of them smoked the products and the other one didnt do it.

Values of temperature and humidity were taken in several steps of the traditional sausage process.

At the same factory, significant differences were almost always found, for temperature and humidity, among lots. This fact would affect the final quality of the product and should cause its heterogeneity, affecting negatively the faithful consume (consumer behaviour).