## 3 Results and Discussion
### Microbiological Quality  
All of the tested products were of good microbiological quality in accordance with the Regulation (EC) No. 1441/2007 [39], which is presented in Table 3.  
During the storage period, the total viable counts in all of the samples were between 1.00 log cfu/g and 2.36 log cfu/g. Throughout the duration of the storage period, the counts of LAB, _Enterobacteriaceae_, _Escherichia coli_, and _Staphylococcus aureus_ in the model sausages remained below 1.0 log cfu/g. The samples with apple cider vinegar (V1, V3, and V5)  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Treatment** & **Moisture (\%)** & **Carbohydrates (\%)** & **Protein (\%)** & **Fat (\%)** \\ \hline C & 62.6 \(\pm\) 0.82 b  & \(<\)0.5 a  & 21.7 \(\pm\) 0.59 a  & 9.9 \(\pm\) 0.56 ab  \\ V1 & 63.4 \(\pm\) 0.26 b  & \(<\)0.5 a  & 21.2 \(\pm\) 0.40 a  & 9.8 \(\pm\) 0.05 a  \\ V3 & 62.8 \(\pm\) 0.58 b  & \(<\)0.5 a  & 21.7 \(\pm\) 0.32 a  & 10.1 \(\pm\) 0.05 ab  \\ V5 & 61.3 \(\pm\) 0.36 a  & \(<\)0.5 a  & 22.6 \(\pm\) 0.18 b  & 10.3 \(\pm\) 0.11 b  \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} a  
\end{table}
Table 2: Chemical composition of sausage (means \(\pm\) standard deviation error).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Treatment** & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Storage Time (Days)**} & **Treatment** & **Time** & **Treatment\(\times\) Time** \\ \hline  & **0** & **7** & **14** & \(p\) & \(p\) & \(p\) \\ \hline TVC & C & 1.36 \(\pm\) 0.10 b  & 1.36 \(\pm\) 0.10 ab  & 1.00 \(\pm\) 0.01 aa  \\ (log CFU/g) & V1 & 1.10 \(\pm\) 0.17 a  & 1.52 \(\pm\) 0.07 ab  & 1.86 \(\pm\) 0.03 c  & *** & ** & *** \\  & V3 & 1.46 \(\pm\) 0.15 b  & 1.75 \(\pm\) 0.08 b  & 1.63 \(\pm\) 0.05 b  & & & \\  & V5 & 2.36 \(\pm\) 0.10 ab  & 2.27 \(\pm\) 0.08 d  & 2.07 \(\pm\) 0.09 d  & & & \\ \hline LAB & C & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & \\ (log CFU/g) & V1 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & NS & NS & NS \\  & V3 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & & \\ \hline AAB & C & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & & \\ (log CFU/g) & V1 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & & \\  & V3 & 1.96 \(\pm\) 0.08 b  & 2.07 \(\pm\) 0.09 b  & 1.83 \(\pm\) 0.28 c  & & & & \\  & V5 & 2.99 \(\pm\) 0.14 c  & 3.02 \(\pm\) 0.16 c  & 2.82 \(\pm\) 0.11 d  & & & & \\ \hline ENT & C & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & NS & NS & NS \\ (log CFU/g) & V1 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & NS & NS & NS \\  & V5 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & & \\ \hline EC & C & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & & \\ (log CFU/g) & V1 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & NS & NS & NS \\  & V3 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & NS & NS & NS \\  & V5 & \(<\)1.00 a  & \(<\)1.00 a  & & & & \\ \hline \hline SAL & C & nd & nd & & & \\  & V1 & nd & nd & & & \\  & V3 & nd & nd & & & \\ \hline LM & C & nd & nd & & & \\  & V1 & nd & nd & & & & \\  & V3 & nd & nd & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} a
[FOOTNOTE:a]Footnote a  
\end{table}
Table 3: Microbiological analysis of sausage.  
contained AAB (acetic acid bacteria), the higher concentrations of which were due to the greater amount of vinegar added. According to Table 2, there was no confirmed presence of _L. monocytogenes_ and _Salmonella_ spp. in the products. The obtained results confirmed the high hygienic status of the production process. The heat treatment of the model products and the addition of apple vinegar, which lowered the pH, likely contributed to the low number of total viable microorganisms (TVC). However, the slightly higher count of TVC in samples with higher concentrations of apple vinegar indicates that probably the acetic acid bacteria, which were present in apple vinegar at a level above 6 log cfu/mL, could survive and grow in the samples. Similar results were obtained by [PERSON] et al. [11].