Influence of raw matter origin and production period on fatty-acid composition of dry-cured hams

Abstract

We have here investigated the fatty acid composition in the muscle (Mm. biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus) of Vipava and Vipava-style hams made from fresh pork legs that originate from Slovenia, and from Germany and Italy, respectively. Dry-cured hams are produced under technology protected according to recognized geographical indications for Vipava ham, a salt-cured ham that is air-dried rather than smoked. The fatty acid compositions of samples were determined by gas-liquid chromatography following in-situ transesterification. On average, hams contained 6.89% of intramuscular and intermuscular fat, with the fatty-acid composition as 50.0% monounsaturated, 11.8% polyunsaturated (PUFA) and 38.0% saturated fatty acids. The origin of the raw matter has significant influence the PUFAs in hams, which were 2.0% lower in products from pigs of Slovenian (own) rearing. The important indicators of lipid nutritive value, as P/S ratio (0.31), content of n-3 (0.68%) and n-6 (9.02%) PUFAs, and ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFAs (14.1), are similar to those cited in the literature for other types of dry-cured hams from south European regions produced from pigs reared under intensive systems.