Abstract
Catalão is a Portuguese dry-cured traditional sausage, highly appreciated for its distinctive sensory properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a 25% salt reduction on Catalão manufactured with either purebred Alentejano (Al) or crossbred Iberian × Duroc (IDr) pork meat, on its physicochemical and microbiological stability, texture parameters, and sensory attributes. No significant effect of salt reduction or genotype was observed for pH, aW, and microbiological parameters. PUFA content was significantly higher for Al Catalão, particularly due to the content in linoleic and linolenic fatty acids. IDr 3% NaCl samples had the highest mean n6/n3 PUFA ratio, and the highest mean values for the atherogenicity and thrombogenicity indices, showing that both genotype and salt content influence these nutritional indices. Texture profile of Catalão was significantly influenced by salt content and genotype. Al samples were less adhesive, cohesive, and easier to chew. Low-salt Catalão was harder, more adhesive, and less cohesive, with lower resilience and higher chewiness values. Regarding sensory attributes, salt content influenced the product aroma, with reduced-salt sausages being evaluated as significantly less aromatic. Overall, a 25% salt reduction did not have a significant impact on the quality, stability, and sensory evaluation of Catalão.
Highlights
Traditional cured meat products are appreciated worldwide because of their sensory characteristics.These sensory characteristics are related to meat selection, recipe, and processing of sausages among other factors [1]
The salt reduction preconized in this study can be achieved with a stabilized product being observed that E. coli, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes were not present
A 25% salt reduction did not have a significant impact on the stability, safety, and sensory appreciation of Catalão sausages, which thereby retained their quality
Summary
Traditional cured meat products are appreciated worldwide because of their sensory characteristics. These sensory characteristics are related to meat selection, recipe, and processing of sausages among other factors [1]. Autochthonous pig breeds are often fed with local products as is the case with the acorn-finished pigs, which provides unique characteristics to the meat, and to the fat [2,3]. Traditional dry-cured meat sausages have been considered delicatessen products, but have lately been regarded as potentially unhealthy foods for several consumers, due to nutritional characters, associated to their high fat and salt contents [4,5,6]. High salt content in foods has been referred as a health factor risk for human inducing high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases [7,8]
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