Natamycin
Also known as Pimaricin, Piramicin, E235
An antifungal made by a Streptomyces bacterium, applied to a casing surface to hold back unwanted moulds and yeasts without disturbing the ripening flora inside.
Natamycin is a natural antifungal produced by the soil bacterium Streptomyces natalensis. Because it acts on moulds and yeasts but not on bacteria, it can hold back unwanted surface fungi without disturbing the lactic fermentation going on inside a sausage.
It is a surface treatment, put onto the casing by dipping or spraying, and it suits products where any surface mould is a defect rather than a feature. It has no place on a deliberately mould-ripened salame, where it would attack the very noble white Penicillium the curesmith is cultivating.
Temple element. Pillar, Mould Control