Non-emulsified Sausage Processing Technology

Non-emulsified sausages represent a wide group of processed meat products with peculiar characteristics depending on the region of production. In general, they are recognized as thick dough sausage products, stuffing and commercialized in a fresh way, or submitted to smoking or cooking. The fresh non-emulsified sausages are a highly perishable food that cannot be submitted a previous heat treatment before the sale, once the consumer will bake it in the consumption moment. In this context, the high hydrostatic pressure and irradiation are of great interest because only a slight increase in the temperature was observed during the processing step, and can be applied in the finally sealed packages, avoiding re-contamination. Furthermore, for cooked non-emulsified products, the number of possibilities for alternative technologies employment is greater. The high hydrostatic pressure and irradiation can be applied for microbial reduction after cooking step already in the package, and the alternative heating technologies such as ohmic heating, microwave, and radiofrequency can be tested in order to replace the conventional cooking procedures improving the microbiological safety. Thus, the use of emerging technologies represents an interesting point of view in the processing of non-emulsified products, justifying the proper attention of further studies.

Keywords: Electron-beam Irradiation, High hydrostatic pressure, Irradiation, Microwave, Ohmic Heating, Radio-Frequency.