Effects of sugar addition on adipolysis and volatile profiles of dry cured sausage

As sugar play a primary role in food flavor and biochemical reaction during the industrial manufacture of dry cured meat products, we aim to evaluate the function of sugar and how the quality changed with the addition of sugar on dry cured sausage after three months of preservation, and the corresponding effect on acidity value and the total acid value. The roles of sugars’ effects on FA hydrolysis and flavor formation are required to be assessed. We selected the addition of sugar with the gradient contents from 3% to 15%, we found that the total acid, acidity value, peroxide value, FA and organic acid were significantly affected. Mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) was the main content of FAs, following by saturated FA and polyunsaturated FA. C18:1n9c was the major FA, following by C16:0 and C18:0. Six kinds of organic acids in dry-cured sausages containing different concentrations of sugar were analyzed by HPLC and the total organic acid reached a maximum of 12.15% by after adding 6% sugar. Acetic acid was 8.06% and lactic acid was 2.56%. This study concludes that sugar is the main factor in flavor formation of dry cured sausage and affects the sausage quality for three months in storage.