The effects of the co-inoculation of Debaryomyces hansenii separately with three lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Lactobacillus sakei, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus curvatus, on the taste and odour profiles of dry sausages were investigated. The co-inoculated sausages showed higher free amino acid and organic acid contents than the non-inoculated control and sausages inoculated with D. hansenii alone. Meanwhile, the sausages inoculated with D. hansenii + L. plantarum, D. hansenii + L. sakei and D. hansenii + L. curvatus had the highest contents of aldehydes, esters and alcohols, respectively. The results of electronic tongue, electronic nose and sensory evaluation demonstrated that compared with the Dh sausage, the sour taste and floral odour increased and the fatty odour decreased in the D. hansenii + L. sakei sausage; this was more favourable for the development of a desirable flavour in sausages. Moreover, the partial least squares regression analysis indicated that ten taste and 33 odour compounds were mainly responsible for the differences in the flavour profiles among the sausages. Overall, these findings contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the formation of sensory characteristics in dry sausages co-inoculated with yeast and LAB.

The influence of different wood species (in the form of wood chips) on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in smoked Harbin red sausages was investigated. Four common species of wood (pear, oak, apple, beech) were used for smoking. The smoking process significantly affected the moisture content, water activity, pH, lipid oxidation (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances), protein oxidation (carbonyl content) and HAA content. It was found that the wood species significantly influenced the contents of HAAs in the smoked samples. Total HAA contents were highest in samples smoked using wood chips produced from pear, followed by oak, beech and apple. The contents of Norharman and Harman were much higher than those of the other HAAs. Lipid oxidation and protein oxidation were significantly associated with the formation of total HAAs in samples. It is shown that the type of wood chips used for smoking is one of the critical parameters affecting the contamination of HAAs in smoked meat products.