Cargill targets fermented meat flavour with new cultures
Cultures are used in the manufacture of dried fermented meats for a number of purposed: for acidifying and texturising, for colouring, for flavouring, and for preserving. They are associations of lactic bacteria, mainly Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, with Staphylococcus.
The new range, which is being rolled out in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, with more markets to follow, is called Flavor Start D. It is based on a combination of Geotrichum candidum, a strain traditionally used for dairy products, and standard meat ripening cultures (Staphylococcus sp and lactic bacteria).
The company says the specific notes produced whatever the ripening time bring a positive point of differentiation to products. More than that, however, they are said to speed up the flavour formation and reduce production time.
“For example, in dried fermented sausages where ripening requires 21 days (approximately 17 production cycles per year), Flavor Start D can reduce the ripening process by up to three days, saving around 10 per cent production capacity (equivalent to two additional production cycles per year),” the company said.
Marjorie Saubusse, surface and ripening cultures product manager at Cargill Texturizing Solutions, said that speeding up the process is a major focus for meat manufacturers in all four of the initial target markets – but they still want to retain the retain the sensory properties of traditional dried fermented meats.
Meat offering
The new range joins Cargill’s offering of surface cultures for the meat industry. It also supplies meat manufacturers with texturising solutions such as hydrocolloids, lecithins, starches and soy proteins, and functional systems.
Cargill’s meat applications centers and pilot plants are located in Rubi, Spain, and in Beijing, China. It also has technical service laboratories in Europe and in the United States.
