Reduction of drying and ripening times during the iItalian type salami production

Abstract

Salami is a product which preparation time varies notably in function of some parameters, especially its size. This study carried out in a company to verify in industrial scale the possibility of the reduction of the days of process. Drying curves were done for salami with 60 mm diameter and 240 and 260 mm lengths, corresponding to masses of 776 and 852 g, respectively. In the current conditions, the process time was of 38 days. It was concluded that the maintenance of the 7 days of pre-ripening, a reduction in the period of the first ripening from 13 to 7 days and in the second ripening from 18 to 17, totaling 31 days, reached the desired humidity, occurring no alterations in the final product characteristics. Through non-linear regression analysis it was verified that the obtained parameters of the drying curves, had presented excellent adjustment of correlation (R2 > 99%).