## 4 Discussion  
During the production of fermented sausages, key stages (fermentation, ripening and drying) take place that modify the main meat components (carbohydrates, proteins and lipids) and thus determine the specific physicochemical parameters (pH, water activity) [3]. The acidification and water activity of fermented meat product are very important as these parameters mainly affect chemical and enzymatic reaction activity and growth of microorganisms during manufacturing [28]. The production of organic acids (mainly lactic acid), hydrogen peroxide and bacteriocins from microbial activity (naturally occurring or starter cultures) plays a crucial role in preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms and food-borne pathogens in fermented sausages [29]. In the current study, the dry fermented sausages had an initial pH ranging from 5.98 \(\pm\) 0.02 to 6.04 \(\pm\) 0.02, which decreased to values ranging from 4.74 \(\pm\) 0.01 to 5.04 \(\pm\) 0.04 after 21 days of production. Such low pH values (<5.0) are an important factor inhibiting the growth of pathogenic microorganisms [30]. The greatest decrease in pH, by more than 0.5 units, occurred after seven days of production. The addition of the acid whey caused a greater acidification of fermented sausages at 7, 14 and 21 days compared to cured (C) and salted (S) sausages. Lower pH values of samples with the addition of acid whey mainly result from its composition. The addition of acid whey enables the introduction of lactic acid bacteria into the stuffing, which affects the acidification of the environment [31]. A similar low pH was obtained in the studies by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [16], in which nitrite-/nitrate-free fermented sausage made from deer meat presented values for the pH from 4.47 to 4.59. In these studies, it was shown that the inclusion of acid whey to the sausage together with freeze-dried cranberries significantly decreased the pH values. The effect of the addition of whey was also observed in the case of the results of the water activity of fermented sausages. The experimental sausage samples with the addition of acid whey and acid whey in combination with sodium ascorbate were characterized \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Biogenic Amine** & **Treatments** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **The Amount of Biogenic Amine** \\ **(mg kg\({}^{-1}\))** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Tyramine} & C & 237.50 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.71 \\ \cline{2-3}  & S & 212.00 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 2.83 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAW & 155.50 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 26.16 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAWA & 120.50 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 9.19 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Putrescine} & C & 11.85 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 7.14 \\ \cline{2-3}  & S & 38.60 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 20.36 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAW & 1.90 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 2.12 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAWA & 5.15 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 5.87 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Cadaverine} & C & 98.10 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 23.90 \\ \cline{2-3}  & S & 116.25 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 49.14 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAW & 51.90 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 19.66 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAWA & 69.55 \({}^{\text{ab}}\)\(\pm\) 20.15 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Spermine} & C & 39.60 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 1.27 \\ \cline{2-3}  & S & 40.70 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 10.47 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAW & 32.65 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 2.07 \\ \cline{2-3}  & SAWA & 35.15 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 2.62 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} C—with curing mixture; S—with sea salt; SAW—with sea salt and liquid acid whey; SAWA—with sea salt, liquid acid whey and sodium ascorbate. Means with the same lowercase letter \({}^{\text{a}-d}\) do not differ significantly within the variable (\(p\leq 0.05\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 7: Biogenic amines content in dry fermented sausages at the end of manufacturing (21 days) (mean \(\pm\) SD). by significantly lower water activity compared to the other tests at the end of processing.