S4 S6   Interactions   No curing salts With curing salts No curing salts With curing salts SE t*C t*T C*T t*C*T   2-4°C 15-18°C 2-4°C 15-18°C 2-4°C 15-18°C 2-4°C 15-18°C           TAMF 7.77ab 7.89 a 7.38ab. 7.50 ab 7.03 b 4.37 c 4.57 c 4.04 c 0.15 *** *** *** *** Enterococci 4.78 a 4.94a 3.87 c 4.20 b 3.75 c ND ND ND 0.18 *** *** *** *** LAB 7.80ab 8.05a 7.70ab 7.48b 6.94c 3.89d 1.70e ND 0.20 *** *** ** ** Micrococcaceae 6.52 ND 6.60 6.11 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 0.29 ns ns ns ns Enterobacteriaceae <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00 <1.00   ns ns ns ns In same row, means with different letters are significantly different. ns = not significant; * = P<0.05; ** = P<0.01; *** = P<0.001. SE - Standard error. TAMF - total aerobic mesophylic flora. ND – Not detected. t - time; C - curing salts; T - temperature.

Table 8: Variability of microbial counts (log c.f.u. g-1) at different storage periods of “Chouriço de Carne” manufactured with and without curing salts.