Dry sausages ripening: influence of thermohygrometric conditions on microbiological, chemical and physico-chemical characteristics

The DRIP (dry sausages ripening improved project) programme, financed by th e EU, had the purpose of carrying out research into systems of improving th e techniques for preparing matured salamis, special attention being paid to the phases of drying and ripening. With a view to arriving at solutions of use to operators the programme concerned the various aspects of production , with particular emphasis on the Various phases of preparation, resulting in mathematical models able to describe the processes of heat and mass tran sfer and in the setting up of instruments designed to optimise the planning of ripening plants. The project will come to an end in the first few month s of the year 2000; up to now, interesting results have been obtained regar ding the evolution of the physicochemical parameters and the influence of t he drying characteristics on the evolution of the various descriptors, the validation of the mathematical models is still in progress. (C) 2000 Publis hed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.