Abstract
A combination of physico-chemical and sensory measurements along with chemometric tools was used to authenticate the quality category of dry-cured Iberian shoulder. Depending on the confinement regime and feeding background, dry-cured Iberian shoulders from three classes were analyzed: i) pigs reared in confinement regime and fed with commercial feeds (CON class), ii) pigs reared in extensive regime and fed with commercial feeds (EXT class) and iii) pigs reared in extensive regime and fed with natural sources (grass and acorns), called Montanera regime (MON class). The principal component analysis (PCA) results discriminated among the three types of dry-cured shoulders according to their quality. The soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), which is a classification model, enabled the characterization of the quality class of unknown dry-cured shoulder samples. Finally the Cooman´s plot and Si vs. Hi plot provide a classification for the unknown quality of dry-cured shoulders.
Highlights
Iberian dry-cured meat products, like shoulders or hams have a high acceptance among consumers due to their particular sensory qualities
According to the Spanish regulation of quality for Iberian meat and meat products, Iberian pig products should be derived from: i) crossed Iberian (Ib) x Duroc (Du), pigs normally reared in a confinement regime (CON) and fattened with commercial feed, and ii) pure Iberian, usually pigs reared in an extensive regime (“Montanera”) (MON), in which traditionally pigs are fed according to the free-reared system during the final fattening period in an expanse of variable land area, using natural resources, grass (Quercus ilex) and acorns (Quercus suber), (García et al, 1991)
The principle of principal component analysis (PCA) is finding the linear combinations of the initial variables that most contribute to making samples different from each other
Summary
Iberian dry-cured meat products, like shoulders or hams have a high acceptance among consumers due to their particular sensory qualities. The Iberian cured products obtained from free-range pigs have gained wide consumer acceptance and have a high commercial value by virtue of their characteristic sensory quality. These products can be considered healthy foods according to the new European regulation of “Healthy declarations” (CE regulation no 432/2012) because of their high content in unsaturated fats and vitamins (B group), iron, selenium, etc.
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