CHARQUI MEATS ARE HURDLE TECHNOLOGY MEAT-PRODUCTS

Charqui meat is a tropical intermediate meat product formulated using hurdle technology, a concept described by Leistner (1,2). Salt, sodium nitrite, dehydration, and packaging are hurdles sequentially applied to inhibit deteriorating microorganisms with the possibility of select ing desirable microbiota. This would characterize charqui and its deri vatives as fermented meat products. This paper reviews biochemical, ph ysico-chemical, and ultrastructural changes that occur during processi ng of charquis.