Influence of casing material on the formation of efflorescences on dry fermented sausages

Various casing types can be used to produce dry fermented sausages. Within the group of dry fermented sausages, efflorescence formation represents a current issue for the meat processing industry. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the coherence between the casing type and the efflorescence amount. Different casing materials (co-extruded alginate, collagen, and natural casing) were used for the sausage production. The sausages were stored under modified atmosphere packaging at 4 °C and visual and chemical analyses were conducted regularly during 8 wk of storage. Image analyses revealed different amounts of efflorescences for the sausages with alginate (72.2%), collagen (48.3%), and natural casings (25.0%). The magnesium content increased in different amounts on the surface of the sausages produced with alginate (88%), collagen (83%), and natural (59%) casing. The calcium content significantly increased on the alginate casings by 32% but the other casing types showed no enrichment of calcium on the surface. It seems likely that the differences regarding the efflorescence formation occur due to differences in the average pore size of the casings.