Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

Eect of initial mild curing, with additives, of hog and sheep

sausage casings on their microbial quality and mechanical
properties after storage at dierence temperatures
W.A.M. Bakker a, J.H. Houben a*, P.A. Koolmees a, U. Bindrich b, L. Sprehe b
a

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Department of the Science of Food of Animal Origin, PO Box 80175, NL-3508 TD Utrecht,
The Netherlands
b
Deutsches Institut fur Lebensmitteltechnik e.V., PO Box 1165, D-49601 Quakenbruck, Germany
Received 19 January 1998; received in revised form 15 July 1998; accepted 25 July 1998

Abstract
Sausage containers, derived from animal intestines, are usually preserved by salting and/or drying. Adequately salted nal products are microbiologically fully acceptable. However casings, even those packed in dry salt, sometimes deteriorate in quality.
Experiments were performed to improve salting procedures by adding food-grade additives to the salt to improve the microbiological and mechanical properties of the casings. Before storage, casings were cured by slush- or dry-salting with or without
additives for 3 weeks, and after that the rinsed and re-salted (dry- or slush-salting) casings were stored for 6 months at dierent
temperatures (10, 20, and 40 C). During storage, growth of halophylic bacteria was observed in control casings (salted, no additives) but not in casings cured with citric or lactic acid and their relative sodium salts. The casings cured with citric acid/Na3-citrate
had good mechanical properties and lling characteristics when assessed after prolonged storage at 10 C. # 1998 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hog and sheep casings; Sausage containers; Food-grade acids; Texture; Storage

1. Introduction
In the meat industry, natural animal casings are used
as sausage containers. The submucosa layer of the small
intestine of hog and sheep, which is the actual casing, is
obtained by cleaning and stripping o the mucous and
muscular layers. Casings are usually preserved by salting and curing, and/or drying (Fischer and Schweinghaus, 1988a,b). The mechanical properties of the
casings are important to both the consumer (toughness)
and the sausage manufacturer (strength and elasticity in
lling processes).
Hog and sheep small intestine used to prepare casings
is moderately contaminated (total aerobic plate count
between 104 and 107 g1 casing) when it is removed
from the animal (Gabis and Silliker, 1974; Lee et al.,
1994; Palasek et al., 1991; Riha and Solberg, 1970).
During cleaning, microbial counts sometimes temporarily increase, except those for salt-tolerant organisms
(this studydata not shown). Overall, adequately salted
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +31-30-2535367; fax: +31-302532365; e-mail: houben@vvdo.vet.uu.nl

nal products are microbiologically fully acceptable,

although even casings packed in dry salt sometimes
deteriorate in quality (Ockerman and Hansen, 1988;
Rust, 1988). This deterioration is possibly caused by
micro-organisms that persist on salted natural casings
(extremely salt-tolerant or halophylic species). Microorganisms may also produce `o-odours' (Rust, 1988)
or unwanted pigments e.g. `red dog' or `black spots'
(Ockerman and Hansen, 1988) when casings are stored
at high temperatures. Such adverse conditions can occur
during overseas transport in containers.
From an economic perspective, the worldwide trade
in natural casings is considerable. In 1992, the total
European Union foreign trade in natural casings was
about 1.7 billion DM (Deutsch Marks), with 81 countries supplying the European market and 102 countries
buying from it (Panzer, 1994).
1.1. Additives
Many additives have been suggested to minimize the
deterioration in the quality of salted natural casings
with time (Bartenschlager-Blassing, 1979a,b; Fischer

0309-1740/98/$see front matter # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
PII: S0309 -1 740(98)00118 -1

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W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

and Schweinghaus, 1988a,b; Gabis and Silliker, 1974;

Madhwaraj et al., 1980; Radhakrishnan and Ramamurthi, 1987). However, some of these additives are not
allowed in food (e.g. hydrogen peroxide) and others
may cause toughening of the casings or aect the gliding
properties during the sausage stung process (Karmas,
1974).
In the current study, we attempted to improve and/or
optimize salting and curing procedures by adding foodgrade additives to the salt. We made sausages with hog
and sheep casings from the small intestine that had been
cured and stored in dierent ways and then assessed the
mechanical properties of the sausage skins. We considered reduced microbial counts, which can improve
the keepability, and no decrease in the strength of the
casings, which is important for stung purposes, to be
desirable properties for casings.

histological analyses to investigate whether signicant

changes in the casing tissue occurred during curing
of the casings and during the subsequent storage
period.

1.2. Mechanical properties of casings

2.2. Treatment with salt and additives

Until recently there have been few studies on the

mechanical properties of sausage casings, measured by
well-dened methods. Leblanc (1959) measured tensile
strength, burst pressure, and water and air permeability
of hog casings, and Eenberger (1981) described a
method to determine the internal pressure of casings,
but only results for articial casings were reported.
However, in medicine the burst pressure and breaking
strength of the intestines have been well studied to
monitor healing after surgery (Hendriks and Mastboom, 1990). New methods have been developed to
study the passive elastic wall properties of small intestines (Gregersen and Djurhuus, 1991; Storkholm et al.,
1995) and adaption of these methods for animal casings
may result in a better understanding of the mechanical
properties of this product, which in turn may facilitate
developments in (automated) stung processes (Sprehe,
1994). We therefore measured the pressure and tensile
strength in both the axial and the radial direction of
samples of hog and sheep casings.

For the experiments we used fresh hog and sheep

small casings with a diameter of 3235 mm and 2022
mm, respectively. For dry-salting 700 g food-grade
NaCl per 100 m hog casings was used and 300 g NaCl
per 100 m sheep casings. Freshly sorted casings were
rubbed with salt on a salting table. After salting, the
casings were de-watered (3 hr) on a grid. For slushsalting the same amount of salt was used as for dry
salting but there was no de-watering step and a minimal
volume of water (< 250 ml water per kg salt) was added
to obtain `slush' salt. To eliminate any inuence of the
natural variance between animals on the measurements,
we formed a pool of 1 m long pieces of casings prepared
from the intestines of about 30 animals. Pieces of casings (20 or more) were drawn at random and used for
each curing treatment. Casings were salted and cured
for 11 days in large closed plastic containers at 20 C for
all experiments. Controls (= only salt and no additives
used) were included in all curing experiments.
To cure the casings, various food-grade organic acids
and bases and their Na-salts were added to the salt to
obtain a nal pH-range of 4.59.5. We anticipated that
these combinations would have an additional antimicrobial eect (Houtsma et al., 1993). For practical
reasons the same concentration was used for the acid or
base and its Na-salt. The additives were selected on the
basis of preliminary experiments (results not shown)
with both dry and slush curing.
The following additives, which were well mixed in
with the salt: citric acid/Na3-citrate (code: C); lactic acid
/ Na-lactate (code: L); Na3PO4/Na2HPO4 (code: P)
were used in the nal storage experiments (L not in dry
curing). The applied concentrations are listed in Tables 1
and 2. All chemicals were obtained from Merck, except
lactic acid and Na-lactate, which were from Purac Biochem (Gorinchem, The Netherlands).

1.3. Storage and transport

We tried to improve storage and transport procedures
with respect to the microbial and mechanical properties
of casings. Promising treatments were initially applied
for 3 weeks, and after that the rinsed and re-salted casings were stored for 6 months at dierent temperatures
(10, 20, and 40 C) to simulate various storage and
transport conditions.
1.4. Histological analysis
The mechanical properties of casings may be aected
by the chemicals used during casing production as
well as by micro-organisms. We therefore performed

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Salting and curing: denitions
In this study, salting is dened as the addition of dry
salt (NaCl) to casings until oversaturation (dry-salting)
occurs. For slush-salting, a solution of salt (brine) was
used instead of dry salt. In this article, curing is dened
as salting (dry or slush) with additional additives to
improve the microbiological state and/or physical
properties of the products.

W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

165

Table 1
Concentrations of the food grade organic acid, its Na-salt and bases
used in the dry curing experiments

Table 2
Concentrations of the food grade organic acids, their Na-salts and
bases in the slush curing experiments

Code

Code

C
P

Additive

Sheep casings
1

Citric acid [g kg NaCl ]

Na3-Citrate [g kg NaCl1]
Na3PO4 [g kg NaCl1]
Na2HPO4 [g kg NaCl1]

26
26
38
38

Hog casings
22
22
33
33

2.3. Prolonged storage conditions

For the prolonged storage experiments, the casings
were salted or cured, using the additives in the concentrations given in Tables 1 and 2, for 21 days at 20 C
in closed containers. Then the casings were rinsed, resalted (dry or slush-salting, the same as applied in the
curing treatment, but with salt only), and stored for 6
months in closed containers at dierent temperatures
(10, 20, and 40 C). Intermediate microbiological measurements were done after 3 months' storage. Sucient
casings were included in the experiments (3 bundles or
`hanks' of 91.4 m casings per treatment with storage
temperature combination) to enable stung trials and
mechanical measurements to be performed at the end of
the storage period.
2.4. Mechanical measurements on casings and sausages
A new extension of the probe of a texture analyser
(Adamel Lhomargy D.Y. 20B, Ivry sur Seine, France)
was developed for testing the maximum force needed to
break the casings in the radial direction. For hog casings it
consisted of a bar (30 mm diameter) which was horizontally divided into two pieces in the axial direction. For
sheep casings the bar had a smaller diameter (18 mm). For
each measurement, a piece of casing (4 cm long) was tted
onto the bar. Immediately after that, the force (expressed in N) needed to break the casing was determined by
displacing the upper half of the bar at 100 mm min1 in
an upward direction. This measurement (n = 20) gives
an indication of the elasticity of the casing and of its
capacity to resist the forces that prevail during lling.
We also measured the tensile strength in the longitudinal direction and the burst pressure of the casings.
Both values are load limit values, i.e., they give the force
and pressure needed to break the casings, respectively.
The instrument used for the measurements has been
described previously (Sprehe, (1994)). For both measurements a separate piece of casing ( 50 cm length)
was xed vertically at both ends of the measuring device
by means of an air-pressure controlled membrane. For
tensile force measurements (n = 15), the upper traverse,
which contained the force sensor, was moved at 300 mm
min1 in an upward direction. The maximum force F
required to break the casing was used to calculate the

C
L*
P

Additive
1

Citric acid [g kg NaCl ]

Na3-Citrate [g kg NaCl1]
Lactic acid [ml kg NaCl1]
Na-Lactate [ml kg NaCl1]
Na3PO4 [g kg NaCl1]
Na2HPO4 [g kg NaCl1]

Sheep casings

Hog casings

22
22
21
28
44
44

19
19
18
24
38
38

*For lactic acid a 80% solution in water was used, and for Na-lactate
the concentration was 60%.

tensile strength sT, expressed in N m1 from sT = F/

(dp) with d being the diameter of the casing. For burst
pressure measurements (n = 15), the casing was lled
with water from the top, and the water pressure was
gradually increased until the casing bursts. This maximum was dened as the burst pressure (expressed in
mbar). Water pressure was measured in the casing on
the bottom side. Obviously casings with holes could not
be tested. The same instrument (Adamel Lhomargy
D.Y. 20B) mentioned at rst was used to measure the
compression of sausages as an indicator of toughness.
The probe applied was a blunt blade (1.3 mm thick) that
moved downwards to a xed table. Sausages (n = 10
per measurement) were positioned on the table under
the blade, perpendicular to the blade. The blade moved
down at a rate of 100 mm min1.
2.5. Microbiological measurements on casings
Total aerobic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, and extremely salt-tolerant (halophylic) bacteria were counted.
The number of colony-forming units (CFU) is expressed
in log10 CFU per g casings.
The total aerobic count was determined on PCA
(Plate Count Agar; Oxoid CM 325, pH 7.0). Decimal
dilutions of microbes were made in a solution of peptone (5 g l1) and salt (8.5 g NaCl l1) in water (PW, pH
7.2) and pour plates were incubated for 3 days at 30 C.
The Enterobacteriaceae count was determined on
VRBG (Violet Red Bile Glucose agar pour plates, with
cover layer; Oxoid CM 485, pH 7.4). Plates were incubated for 24 2 h at 37 C.
The halophylic bacteria count was determined in pour
plates of TSBA (Tryptone Soya Broth, Oxoid CM 129
plus agar, pH 7.3) with 20% (w/v) NaCl added. Decimal dilutions of bacteria were made in PW with 20%
(w/v) NaCl. Plates were incubated for 3 weeks at 30 C,
after packaging to prevent dessication.
2.6. Sausage manufacture
Meat batters were prepared according to standard
recipes (Anon., 1996). Two types were used: Guelder

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W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

ring sausages (hog casings: recipe RK-8-1992

Rookworst met farce) and Frankfurters (sheep casings:
recipe RK-11-1992 Frankfurter worstjes without addition of glucono-delta-lactone). Sausages were vacuum
packed after smoking and pasteurized at 80 C (products
with hog casings: 45 min; Frankfurters: 20 min) to
obtain so-called `cooked and smoked' sausages. Other
sausages were also cooked (same intensity) without
smoking, vacuum packed, and stored for maximally 2
weeks at 2 C until measurements were done.
Only sheep casings stored at 10 or 40 C were used in
the sausage production trials. Stored casings were
judged during stung by a meat technologist for colour,
slipperiness, and failures during lling.
2.7. Histology
Duplicate samples from the casings (each 2 cm long)
were collected for histological analyses. These were xed
in a buered neutral 4% formalin solution for 24 h and
subsequently embedded in paran. From all the samples two pairs of paran sections of 6 microns thickness
were made using an American Optical rotation microtome (model 820, New York, USA). One pair of sections was stained with Picro sirius red (Flint and
Pickering, 1984) for collagen, the other was stained with
catechin (Godeau et al., 1986) for elastin bres. The
sections were examined microscopically to detect
microstructural changes that occurred during curing
and storage. Image analysis (IBAS-system, Kontron
Bildanalyse GmbH, Germany) was used to measure the
area of elastin tissue as a percentage of the total area of
casing tissue.

tissue and the network of blood vessels contribute to the

strength of the casings.
Data for curing or salting procedures refer in the next
paragraphs to hog casings and data for storage conditions refer to sheep casings. If not discussed, comparable results were obtained for the variables derived from
the other animal species.
3.2. Additives
3.2.1. Microbiology of cured casings
Average initial Enterobacteriaceae counts (n=3) were
5.1 and 6.7 (log CFU / g casings) for fresh hog and
sheep casings, respectively, and the average initial total
aerobic bacteria counts (n=3) were 6.2 and 7.6 (log
CFU / g casings) for fresh hog and sheep casings,
respectively.
In both salted (by slush- or dry-salting) hog and sheep
casings without additives (= controls), the Enterobacteriaceae count was reduced below the detection
limit (log CFU/g casings < 1.5) after 11 days storage at
20 C. The selected acid (L and C) and base (P) treatments reduced (by 0.51.5 log-cycles) the aerobic counts
still further after 11 days at 20 C when compared to the
blank (Fig. 1).

3.1. Histological characterization

3.2.2. Mechanical properties of cured casings

Given the large natural variation in tensile strength
and burst pressure, adding additives to the salt did not
have a signicant eect on mechanical properties of the
hog casings (see Fig. 2: tensile strength; and Fig. 3: burst
pressure) (seeing the overlap in 95%-condence intervals), when compared with the eect of salt alone. Also,
additional fracture force measurements did not show an
eect of using the selected additives to the salt for both
hog and sheep casings (results not shown).
However, histological examination of the casings
cured with the acidic additives to the salt revealed that
the collagen bers were somewhat swollen when compared with those of salted casings. The conformation of
the protein was probably inuenced by water uptake
due to the change in pH. With increased concentrations
of acidic additives, the swelling of collagen became more
pronounced. There were no microscopic dierences
between cooked, and cooked and smoked sausage skins
made in hog and sheep casings cured with additives and
those made with salted casings.

Of the whole small intestine wall (on average 1.5 and

2.2 mm for sheep and hog, respectively), only the submucosa layer (on average 0.11 and 0.32 mm for sheep
and hog, respectively) is used for natural casings. The
microstructure of natural casings is characterised by a
network of collagen and elastin bers and blood vessels.
The hog and sheep casings contained on average 5.5 and
5.0% elastin, respectively. It is likely that the elastic

3.2.3. Mechanical properties of sausage skins

Compression measurements (toughness) were taken
for sausages made with cured or salted casings shortly
after the initial treatment (after day 11). There were
pronounced dierences between sausages in sheep and
in hog casings and between cooked and smoked sausages and cooked sausages. Sausages in sheep casings
broke at a lower force ( 50 N for cooked and smoked,

2.8. Statistical analysis

Condence intervals (95%) were calculated for the
data about the mechanical properties of the casings,
assuming a normal distribution (Students t). When no
overlap in the condence intervals of two averages was
observed, the results were considered to be signicantly
dierent.
3. Results and discussion

W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

and 20 N for cooked) than those in hog casings (

100 N for cooked and smoked, and 60 N for
cooked). In general more force was needed to break
cooked and smoked sausages than was needed for
cooked sausages. Smoking denitely had a marked
eect on the mechanical properties of the sausage skins.
Measurement of the breaking force of coagulated sausage masses after carefully peeling o the skin ( 12 N
for the coagulated Guelder ring products used in hog
casings and 7 N for the Frankfurter coagulated
masses in sheep casings) indicated that the sausage contents did not contribute to the dierences in force needed to break the cooked and cooked and smoked
sausages. The same results were obtained for sausages in
the dierently cured casings.

167

Additive combination P sometimes had opposite signicant eects (Fig. 4) on the mechanical properties
(observed from no overlap in the 95%-condence intervals when compared to the controls) of sausages
(cooked and cooked and smoked) that had been made
with slush or dry cured hog casings. Both increases (dry
curing) and decreases (slush curing) of about 2030 N in
the fracture force needed to break the cured casings/
skins of cooked sausages were seen when compared to
that of sausages made with control casings. The opposite eect (additive combination P), a decrease in fracture force needed to break the skins of the sausages, was
found for smoked sausages as compared to cooked
products in dry cured casings (Fig. 4). The decrease in
fracture force for cooked sausages in slush cured casings

Fig. 1. Total aerobic counts in log CFU/g hog casings after slush (cross-hatched bars) and dry curing (horizontal-striped bars). General legend for
Figs. 14: results obtained after storage for 11 days at 20 C of casings that had been cured (slush or dry salting) without (controls, B) or with
additives (C, L, and P). Treatment L was not used in dry curing.

Fig. 2. Tensile strength of hog casings in N m1. Error bars give 95% condence intervals. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 1.

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W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

for this additive combination became an increase when

the sausages were smoked (Fig. 4). Comparable results
were obtained for casings that were dry cured with
additive combination C (Fig. 4). A possible explanation
for these dierences between cooked and smoked and
cooked products may lie in their manufacture. Smoked
sausages were pasteurized (cooked) in the vacuum pack,
while cooked sausages were vacuum packed after heating in water because raw (unsmoked) sausages will burst
during vacuum packaging. Therefore, cooked sausage
skins may have the opportunity to hydrate and swell,
while cooked and smoked sausage skins dry and shrink
during smoking.
Similar experiments were performed with sheep casings. The results were rather similar, but pronounced

eects for specic curing treatments were not observed

(data not shown).
3.3. Storage experiments
3.3.1. Microbiology of cured casings
The average initial Enterobacteriaceae count (n=3)
was below the detection limit (log CFU/g casings < 1.5)
for both hog and sheep casings at the start of the
experiment because the material used for these experiments was freshly obtained in a salted condition (maximum 5 days in the salt). The casings were de-salted
before they were cured (controls re-salted). The same
low Enterobacteriaceae counts were observed after 21
days' curing at 20 C for the dierent additives.

Fig. 3. Burst pressure of hog casings in mbar. Error bars give 95% condence intervals. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 1.

Fig. 4. Maximum fracture force in N of cooked sausages (cross-hatched bars) and cooked and smoked sausages (horizontal-striped bars) made with
hog casings. Error bars give 95% condence intervals. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 1.

W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

169

Fig. 5. Total aerobic counts in log CFU/g sheep casings after salting with or without additives followed by 3 months' storage in a dry or slush salted
condition. General legend for Figs. 57: after curing by slush and dry salting with or without additives, the casings were rinsed and re-salted (without
additives) and stored at dierent temperatures. Empty bars: curing for 21 days with or without additives (C, L, and P; B = control) at 20 C. Crosshatched bars: storage at 10 C. Horizontal- striped bars: storage at 20 C. Diagonal-striped bars: storage at 40 C.

Fig. 6. Halophylic bacteria counts in log CFU/g sheep casings. Stored at dierent temperatures for 3 months (a) and 6 months (b) after slush curing
with or without additives. The markers * and # indicate casings with a pink/red colour. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 5.

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W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

Average initial total aerobic bacteria counts (n=3)

were 6.3 and 5.9 (log CFU / g casings) for hog and
sheep casings, respectively. Average halophylic bacteria
counts (n=3) were 4.5 and 5.2 (log CFU/g casings) for
hog and sheep casings, respectively.
After the initial 21-day curing period (both slush- and
dry-salting) at 20 C, the total aerobic counts of sheep
casings were clearly reduced (by 2 log units) for all
additives compared to those of the control casings
(Fig. 5). The same was true for halophylic bacteria,
although counts were reduced less (12 log units)
(Figs. 6a and b and 7a and b).
After rinsing, re-salting and 3 months' storage at 10,
20, and 40 C, the microbiological status was again
assessed. All samples of hog and sheep casings stored at
40 C had a bad smell. The control casings (except for
dry- salted sheep casings) had a pink/red colour, which
is normally associated with halophylic bacteria (Figs. 6a
and 7a), even though the halophylic bacteria counts
were below the detection limit (log CFU/g 2.5). This
may indicate that halophylic spoilage organisms can

rapidly grow at this high temperature and die during the

3 months' storage period.
After 6 months' storage at 10, 20, and 40 C, casings
(slush- or dry-salting) cured with citric acid/Na3-citrate
(C) and lactic acid (Na-lactate (L) showed a good
microbiological keepability. Numbers of Enterobacteriaceae were below the detection limit and total aerobic
counts were low, comparable to those measured after 3
months' storage (Fig. 5). The control casings that were
slush-salted, smelt o and were pink/red in colour after
storage at 10, 20, and 40 C. Spoilage by halophylic
bacteria was also observed in casings (slush- or drysalting) cured with phosphates (P) (Figs. 6b and 7b).
Halophylic bacteria continued to grow in casings stored
at the dierent temperatures. This was seen for dry-salted casings cured with phosphates (P) and stored at 20
and 40 C and for dry-salted control casings stored at 10
and 20 C (compare Fig. 7a and b) and for dry-salted
casings cured with citric acid/Na3-citrate (C) and stored
at 10 C. An increase in halophylic counts was also seen
with slush-salted control casings stored at 10 C and

Fig. 7. Halophylic bacteria counts in log CFU/g sheep casings. Stored at dierent temperatures for 3 months (a) and 6 months (b) after dry curing
with or without additives. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 5.

W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

with casings (slush-salting) cured with phosphates (P)

and stored at 20 and 40 C (compare Fig. 6a and b).
These increases were conrmed by the histological
analyses, which showed microscopically visible nests of
micro-organisms in the cases discussed above.
3.3.2. Mechanical properties of cured casings
Histological analyses showed that the microstructure
of the collagen and elastic tissue of the sheep and hog
casings was not aected by curing and subsequent storage. Neither autolysis nor degradation was observed.
We therefore expected that the mechanical properties of
the casings would not have greatly changed.

171

After 6 months' storage, the various mechanical

properties (maximum fracture force: Fig. 8; tensile
strength: Fig. 9; burst pressure: Fig. 10) of the treated
hog (results not shown) and sheep casings showed some
dierences, but no unambiguous trends. In some cases
storage temperature eects were apparent. For example,
the maximum fracture force of slush-salted control casings decreased when the casings were stored at 10 and
40 C (Fig. 8), and the burst pressure of dry-salted control casings decreased as the storage temperature was
increased from 10 to 40 C (Fig. 10b). But also the
opposite, increases in strength, were observed with
increased storage temperature. This is illustrated in

Fig. 8. Maximum fracture force of sheep casings in N after 6 months' storage. General legend for Figs. 811: after curing (slush and dry salting)
with or without additives (C, L and P; B = control) at 20 C, the casings were rinsed and re-salted (no additives) and stored at dierent temperatures. Empty bars: storage at 10 C. Cross-hatched bars: storage at 20 C. Horizontal-striped bars: storage at 40 C. Error bars give 95% condence
intervals.

Fig. 9. Tensile strength of sheep casings in N m1 after 6 months' storage. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 8.

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W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

Fig. 9 for the tensile strength of slush-salted control

casings.
Further, the acidic curing additives (codes C and L)
seemed to lower the maximum fracture force somewhat
when compared to control (Fig. 8) for both slush and
dry curing. This could have indicated that these casings
were more susceptible to damage during the stung
process, but this is not supported by data for tensile
strength (Fig. 9) and burst pressure (Fig. 10) both at 3
and 6 months.
Overall, no correlation was observed between the
tensile strength, maximum fracture force, and the burst
pressure. Therefore, each measurement identies unique
mechanical properties of the casings. It is not known
which type of mechanical measurement will give the
most useful information for assessing the quality of

casings to be applied in (automated) stung processes.

This may be a subject of future research.
3.3.3. Sausage production trials with sheep casings
Sheep casings stored at (10 and 40 C) for 6 months
were used to make sausages, and then the quality (good
or bad) of these casings was assessed (Table 3). In general, blank or white casings are preferred over yellow
and grey products. Also slipperiness should be good,
and few failures should occur.
Casings stored at 40 C had a poor overall assessment
with respect to colour, slipperiness, and failures irrespective of the method of curing and additives used
(Table 3). This was generally not the case for casings
(slush- or dry-salting) that were cured with citric acid/
Na3-citrate (C) and phosphates (P) and subsequently

Fig. 10. Burst pressure of sheep casings in mbar after 6 months' storage. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 8.

Fig. 11. Maximum fracture force of sausages made in sheep casings in N after 6 months' storage. Further, see the general legend to Fig. 8.

W.A.M. Bakker et al./Meat Science 51 (1999) 163174

173

Table 3
Assessment of sheep casings used for sausage production. The casings were cured (slush or dry salting) and then rinsed, re-salted (slush or dry salting)
and stored for 6 months at 10 and 40 C
Slipperiness
Code
Slush (curing) treatments
C
L
P
B
Dry (curing) treatments
C
P
B

Failures

Colour

Overall

10 C

40 C

10 C

40 C

10 C

40 C

10 C

40 C

+
++
++

+
++
-

W
W
W
W

Y
Y
G
G

Good
Bad
Good
Good

Bad
Bad
Bad
Bad

+
+
o

+
o

W
W
G

Y
G
G

Good
Good
Bad

Bad
Bad
Bad

= Very bad; - = bad; o = average; + = good; ++ = very good; W = white or blank coloured; G = grey; Y = yellow.

stored at 10 C. The overall assessment of slush- or drysalted control casings stored at 10 C for 6 months was
good.
There was no clear correlation between the failures
observed in the stung experiments (Table 3) and the
data for the mechanical properties of the casings
(Figs. 810). However, in specic cases the high failure
rate of casings stored at 40 C, when compared to those
stored at 10 C, corresponded to the observed decrease
in strength. A challenge to future research is to relate
the laboratory measurements to practical observations.
Storage temperatures did not aect the maximum
fracture force (toughness) of smoked and cooked sausages (Fig. 11). Slush and dry salting of casings cured
with phosphates (P) may have slightly increased the
toughness of the resulting sausages, which generally is
considered undesirable (Fig. 11). No other eects of
type of curing or additives used on the obtained sausages were observed.
4. Conclusions
Dry and slush curing of hog and sheep casings with
citric acid/Na3-citrate (C), lactic acid/Na-lactate (L),
and phosphates (Na3PO4/Na2HPO4; code P) improved
the mechanical properties and hygienic aspects of the
casings relative to those of casings that were not treated
with the additives.
Dry and slush salting of hog and sheep casings after
curing with citric acid/Na3 citrate and lactic acid/Na
lactate gave the best results with respect to the hygienic
aspects of stored casings. After prolonged storage at
various temperatures, curing with phosphates (P) was
found to be less eective in reducing the growth of
halophylic bacteria than curing (dry or slush salting)
with the other additives. Overall, curing (dry or slush
salting) with citric acid/Na3-citrate gave the best results,
closely followed by curing with lactic acid/Na-lactate.

Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to many colleagues from
both participating research institutes and from the casing and sausage making industries for their valuable
contributions to this project. This research was carried
out as part of an EU
CRAFT project (no.
BRE2.CT94.1495) entitled: ``Improved treatment of
natural sausage casings for quality improvement in
automated stung processes''. Support by the European Community, the participating companies and
institutes, and ENSCA, is gratefully acknowledged.

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