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ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE-BASED SYSTEM TO MONITOR DRYING PROCESS IN SAUSAGES (DRYCHECK)
Start date: Sep 1, 2011, End date: Aug 31, 2013 PROJECT  FINISHED 

"Dry fermented sausage production comprises an important segment of the European meat industry and market. However, the European meat processing industry is extremely fragmented and characterised by businesses of very small size. Small and medium enterprises play an important role in the food sector, both in economical and social terms. The traditional and farm workshops are often based in rural area where the density of inhabitants is low and, for this reason, the diversification of the production has direct implications for employment and the maintenance of these traditional enterprises has a great economic impact.The sensory characteristics of food products are essential for consumers and the challenge for consortium SME sausage producers lies in increasing production while minimizing product variability, maintaining flavour and desired texture and assuring product safety. Fermentation and maturation play a pivotal role in the final sausages quality. Maturation requires the precise control of two critical parameters – relative humidity and temperature – that are crucial for the product’s final sensory characteristics and safety. The main objective of this project is to design and develop: (i) an analytical system that could be incorporated in ripening/drying chambers to provide information on the evolution of the relative water content and distribution in representative sausage samples along the chamber, as well as a local indication of the temperature and relative humidity values near those samples. (ii) A drying chamber control system which uses the information from the multi-sensor system to readapt the environmental conditions in the chamber for a correct drying process.The proposed DryCheck project will give SMEs a practical tool with which improve the production of quality sausage with a user-friendly albeit advanced technology product at an affordable cost."
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