A LIMITED MATHEMATICAL-MODEL FOR THE FERMENTATION OF DRY SAUSAGE

To understand part of the sausage production process - specifically th e fermentation aspects - and to limit production losses through more a dvanced control, a limited abstract mathematical model is proposed to summarize the major dynamic relationships between the most important c omponents of the process: biomass, total carbohydrate, lactic and acet ic acid concentrations. Meant for a large range of production process conditions, a model set at the structural level is developed. Initial experimental validation shows the model structure to be adequate over the experimental range used and relatively insensitive to the choice o f the growth kinetic equation.