Effect of commercial starter cultures on free amino acid, biogenic amine and free fatty acid contents in dry-cured foal sausage

•Addition of starter cultures increases the number of lactic acid bacteria.•The use of starter cultures increases the total viable counts.•The uses of starter cultures increases free amino acids release.•Inoculated sausages show lower lipolytic activity than control batch.

This study assessed the effects of commercial starter cultures on microbial counts, proteolytic and lipolytic changes of dry-cured foal sausage. Four different batches of foal sausage were manufactured: CO batch: control without starter culture; CX batch was fermented with Staphylococcus carnosus + Staphylococcus xylosus + Pediococcus pentosaceus; FL batch with Debaryomyces hansenii + S. xylosus and TH with P. pentosaceus + S. xylosus. The results revealed that the use of starter cultures increase the number of lactic acid bacteria and the total viable counts, while completely reduce the Enterobacteriaceae count compared with CO batch (spontaneous fermentation). The use of starter cultures increases free amino acids release. The CO batch showed the lowest content of free amino acid (952 vs. about 1200 mg/100 g dry matter). Total level of biogenic amines ranged from 61 to 143 mg/kg. Sausages inoculated with TH starter culture displayed the highest accumulation of total biogenic amines. Lipolytic activity was lower in starter-inoculated sausages than in CO batch (8726–9503 vs. 12858 mg of total free fatty acid/100 g of fat). In conclusion, the use of starter cultures contributes to improve the hygienic quality, however, additional studies should be undertaken to understand the effect of lipolysis and proteolysis on the sensory properties of this product.