Sausages belong to the category of cooked meat products with a short shelf life, which is associated with their rapid spoilage and unsuitability for consumption. One of the ways to extend the shelf life of sausages is the use of biopreservatives, including cultures of lactic acid bacteria. The aim of the study was to determine the chemical composition and organoleptic characteristics of "Juicy" sausages processed with a starter culture of Lactobacillus curvatus or a mixture of starter cultures Lactobacillus curvatus + Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis before vacuum packaging and storage in a chilled state. Storage of sausages in the control variant in vacuum packaging in a chilled state for up to 18 days did not affect the moisture, protein, fat, and ash content, but on the 21st day, their spoilage was observed in the form of appearance of cloudy juice, sliminess, sour odor, and delamination of the vacuum packaging. Processing sausages with a starter culture of Lactobacillus curvatus or a mixture of starter cultures Lactobacillus curvatus + Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis before vacuum packaging did not affect the moisture, protein, fat, and ash content up to 30 days of storage in a chilled state. On the 36th day, spoilage of sausages was observed in both variants of treatment with lactic acid bacteria cultures, characterized by the appearance of cloudy juice, sour odor, and delamination of the vacuum packaging. The pH value of sausages in both variants of treatment with lactic acid bacteria cultures decreased throughout the storage period and reached a level of 6.05 and 5.91 units on the 30th day. Processing sausages with either a single culture or a mixture of lactic acid bacteria cultures extends their shelf life in a chilled state by 12 days. The obtained results may justify the use of microbial biopreservatives for the production of cooked sausage products, which will help reduce losses due to spoilage during storage in vacuum packaging in a chilled state. The use of a mixture of lactic acid bacteria cultures for processing sausages requires further research and may be effective in case of detection of aerobic spoilage microorganisms.
