Lactic Acid Bacteria
Also known as LAB
The bacteria that ferment sugars into lactic acid in a curing sausage, lowering the pH. The engine of fermentation and a key safety hurdle.
Lactic acid bacteria are the engine of fermentation. Species such as Lactobacillus sakei, Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus consume the added sugars and produce lactic acid, which lowers the pH, sours the flavour and firms the texture. They are either already present in the meat, encouraged by backslopping, or added as a defined starter culture.
Temperature decides which suit. Pediococcus was long favoured in the warmer, faster fermentations of the United States, partly for surviving freeze-drying; Lactobacillus plantarum and sakei perform better in the cooler fermentations of northern Europe. Their work is inseparable from safety, since it is their acid that forms the pH corner of the Safety Triangle.
Temple element. Roof, pH