Improvement the aroma of reduced fat and salt fermented sausages by Debaromyces hansenii inoculation

The effect of Debaromyces hansenii inoculation in dry fermented sausages with fat and/or salt reductions was studied in terms of lipolysis, lipid oxidation, volatile compounds production and sensory analysis. The aroma of the identified volatile compounds was evaluated by olfactometry analysis while overall aroma perception was evaluated by sensory descriptive profiling. Salt reduction in dry sausages increased lipolysis and contributed to a high oxidation rate and rancid aroma generation while fat reduction resulted in sausages with a high content of aroma compounds from carbohydrate fermentation. The inoculation of D. hansenii yeast in the reformulated dry sausages produced an increase in lipolysis and, at the same time, an antioxidant effect. The most important contribution of D. hansenii yeast was the increase in aroma compounds derived from amino acid degradation (3-methylbutanoic acid and benzothiazole) and ester activities increasing the perception of fruity and cured aroma notes (2-methylpropanoate, 2-methylbutanoate and 3-methylbutanoate). However, when both reductions were carried out together, D. hansenii inoculation did not show a clear effect.