This study was conducted at the laboratory of Agriculture College,
Damascus University to produce smoked fermented semi-dry sausages using
three kinds of commercial starter cultures, First culture contained a
Staphylococcus carnosus and Staphyloco
ccus xylosus, the second contained
Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus sakei, while the third one contained
Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus sakei, Staphylococcus carnosus and
Staphylococcus xylosus. All treatments were analyzed for microbial and sensory
evaluation after 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days and for chemical parameters after 0,
14 and 28 days of cold storage at 5 C in order to choose the optimal treatment
to determine the best product. Results of microbial analysis showed the
sovereignty of lactic acid bacteria in fermented sausage before smoking and
then decreased after smoking and reappeared in commercial starter culture
containing lactic acid bacteria after that it was dropped gradually until the end
of storage while the pathogenic bacteria did not appear in cultures. Chemical
analysis showed significant effect in the pH number between control and
treatments that had lactic acid bacteria starters. The sensory evaluation also
showed superiority of the fermented sausage using the third starter and gave
the best qualities in terms of taste, odor, color, texture and overall appearance.