Influence of various pork fat types on the ripening and characteristics of dry fermented sausage

Abstract

The influence of three types of pork adipose tissue (neck, back, and leg) on the quality of dry fermented sausages was evaluated. No statistically significant differences between the most abundantly represented methyl esters of fatty acids (FA), such as C16:0, C18:0 and C18:1n-9, were found when the individual FA compositions of the pork adipose tissue samples were compared. The content of polyunsaturated FA was the highest in the neck adipose tissue and the lowest in the leg adipose tissue. These differences were not, however, statistically significant. No differences between the adipose tissue types were found in the sensory, colour, and textural properties, the population of lactic acid bacteria, and the lactic and acetic acids contents in the final products and during the fermentation process. The assertions were not confirmed that pork neck adipose tissue is the best fat type for the production of dry fermented sausages or that pork adipose tissue from the legs is unsuitable because of its insufficient hardness.

Keywords

• pork adipose tissue
• methyl esters of fatty acids
• sensory characteristics
• lactic acid
• lactic acid bacteria