# Flavour Compensation Role of Yeast Strains in Reduced-Salt Dry Sausages: Taste and Odour Profiles
## 4 Conclusions  
Our results indicated that yeast inoculation has different effects on the physical, microbial and flavour characteristics of dry sausages. _D. hansenii_ inoculation increased the moisture content and _L_*-value, whereas all three yeast strains reduced hardness. Additionally, both salt reduction and yeast inoculation changed the flavour profiles (taste and odour properties) of dry sausages. Yeast inoculation, particularly _P. kudriavzewii_ and _D. hansenii_, compensated for the saltiness and umami of reduced-salt sausages. Furthermore, yeast inoculation promoted the formation of volatile compounds (mainly alcohol, esters, terpen, and some acids) and enhanced the sensory quality of reduced-salt dry sausages. In conclusion, _P. kudriavzewii_ and _D. hansenii_ are effective starter cultures that can compensate for the quality and flavour deficiencies of reduced-salt dry sausages.  
**Author Contributions:** Data curation, writing-original draft preparation and visualization, X.-A.L.; conceptualization, writing--reviewing and editing, B.K.; conceptualization and methodology, R.W.; investigation and formal analysis, H.W.; visualization and software, M.L.; investigation and formal analysis, and funding acquisition, Q.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
**Funding:** This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32172232 and 31972139) and the Major Science and Technology Projects of Heilongjiang Province (2021 ZX12B05).  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available within the article.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Attribute** & **CT** & **CR** & **PK** & **TD** & **DH** \\ \hline Colour & 5.52 \(\pm\) 0.33 a & 5.15 \(\pm\) 0.26 a & 5.32 \(\pm\) 0.43 a & 5.18 \(\pm\) 0.33 a & 5.48 \(\pm\) 0.38 a \\ Hardness & 6.23 \(\pm\) 0.42 a & 5.53 \(\pm\) 0.35 ab & 4.33 \(\pm\) 0.45 c & 5.47 \(\pm\) 0.31 ab & 4.83 \(\pm\) 0.15 bc \\ Amora & 4.83 \(\pm\) 0.25 b & 4.80 \(\pm\) 0.46 b & 5.73 \(\pm\) 0.31 a & 5.97 \(\pm\) 0.25 a & 6.30 \(\pm\) 0.20 a \\ Sourness & 4.37 \(\pm\) 0.40 a & 4.60 \(\pm\) 0.26 a & 4.43 \(\pm\) 0.25 a & 4.40 \(\pm\) 0.30 a & 4.47 \(\pm\) 0.21 a \\ Saltiness & 5.60 \(\pm\) 0.30 a & 3.27 \(\pm\) 0.31 c & 4.20 \(\pm\) 0.26 b & 3.33 \(\pm\) 0.32 c & 4.40 \(\pm\) 0.26 b \\ Umami & 5.07 \(\pm\) 0.35 a & 4.60 \(\pm\) 0.26 ab & 4.97 \(\pm\) 0.31 a & 4.33 \(\pm\) 0.25 ab & 4.07 \(\pm\) 0.25 b \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{7}{c}{Different lowercase letters (a–c) within a row indicate significant differences among the different treatments (\(p\) < 0.05). CT: 2.50\% NaCl; CR: 1.75\% NaCl; PK: 1.75\% NaCl + _P. kudriavzewii_; TD: 1.75\% NaCl + _T. delbrueckii_; DH: 1.75\% NaCl + _D. hansenii_.} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 6: Sensory evaluation of the control and reduced-salt dry sausages with and without yeast inoculation after a 12-day fermentation period.