Abstract: In this study, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated, purified and identified from naturally fermented northeast sauerkraut juice and used to develop a new fermented dried venison product with both good flavor and nutritional quality. We analyzed the fermentation characteristics of the LAB isolate and Debaryomyces hansendii, and we also used starter cultures consisting of mixtures of the two strains to ferment venison pieces and evaluated their fermentation characteristics. Optimization of the fermentation conditions was performed by the combined use of one-factor-at-a-time method, Plackett- Burman design and response surface methodology. The results showed that fermentation time, fermentation temperature and inoculum size had significant impacts on the fermentation characteristics of venison. The fermentation of venison by both strains rapidly produced sour substances, and favored the formation of flavor-active substances so that they were suitable to be used as starter cultures to produce fermented dried venison. A quadratic regression equation for the pH and sensory evaluation score of fermented venison was established as a function of fermentation time, fermentation temperature and inoculum size, respectively. The fermented dried venison had the highest sensory score and an average pH of 5.07 after 20.86 h fermentation time at 27.51 ℃ with an inoculum size of 2.16 mL/100 g.

Key words: Lactobacillus isolated from naturally fermented northeast sauerkraut juice, Debaryomyces hansendii, venison, fermentation, processing characteristics