Genetic and environmental effects on the quality of meat from southern European pig breeds are discussed. In the literature, it is evident that the breeds native to southern Europe have an interesting quality of products with respect to improved pigs. The free-range system increases the value of animal products due to the influence of outdoor rearing on the chemical, physical and organoleptic characteristics of the product. Traditional food products of high quality, such as those obtained from animals reared outdoor, are in high demand. The studies carried out on native pig breeds in southern Europe have focused on various aspects, ranging from studies of population genetics aimed at averting the danger of extinction and reducing inbreeding to studies of the factors affecting the quality of products. The purpose of this review is to analyse the literature on pig breeds native to southern Europe, with particular reference to the effects of genetics and breeding systems on the quality of products.

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Fiorentino, Florence, Italy). They consisted of grape seed and chestnut extracts, tocopherol and 66 hydroxytyrosol (extracted by defatted olive pomace). The manufacturer provided the phenolic 67 profile (Table 1), total phenolic content and antiradical scavenging activity (EC50) (Table 2) of each 68 extract. The grape seed and chestnut extracts were combined with the same amount of 69 hydroxytyrosol and tocopherol to form two different mixtures; grape seed (GSE) and chestnut 70 (CHE) mixtures. 71 2.2. Sausages manufacturing 72 4In an industrial plant (Azienda Agricola Savigni, Pistoia, Italy), 24kg of pork lean and 6kg of 73 subcutaneous backfat from Cinta Senese pig breed were minced and equally divided in three 74 batches. Salt (23g/kg), sucrose (35g/kg) and black pepper (0.2g/kg) were added to each batch 75 following the recipe traditionally used by the manufacturer. Thirty ppm of sodium nitrite (E250) 76 were added to the first batch to constitute the control (NIT). In second batch, 10g/kg of GSE 77 mixture were used to replace sodium nitrite, while 10g/kg of CHE were added to the third batch. 78Sausages were weighed, dried at 28°C and RH 85% for 4 days and then ripened 21 days (T 13°C, 79 RH 70%). Once ripened, six samples of each batch were collected, pH, color, and processing loss 80 were immediately measured. Samples were vacuum packed and stored at -80°C for physical, 81 chemical and aromatic analysis. Another 3 samples of each batch were stored at 4°C to be 82 employed for sensory analysis the following day. This design was replicated to have two totally 83 independent batches for each treatment. 84 2.3. Physical, chemical and microbiological parameters 85 At the end of ripening, physical parameters were assessed on 12 samples of each batch (6 for each 86 replication). Sausage pH was measured at room temperature (20 °C) using a pH meter Crison 87 GLP21 (Barcelona, Spain), the instrument was introduced in a sausage portion. Color (L*, a* and 88 b*) was determined by a Minolta Chromameter CR-200 (Tokyo, Japan) immediately after slicing. 89 aw was measured following the method ISO 21807:2004. Two 10 mm-thick and 10 mm-width slices 90 of each sample, were cut and immediately analyzed at room temperature (22 °C), using a Zwick 91 Roell Z2.5 apparatus (Ulm, Germany) with a loading cell of 1 kN at the crosshead speed of 1 92 mm/sec. Texture profile analysis (TPA) was performed assessing the following parameters: 93 hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess, springiness and chewiness. Moisture was determined by 94 lyophilizing to constant weight 40g of sample, according to AOAC methods (1990). Weight loss 95was measured as the difference between weight at time zero and end of ripening (after 24 days). 96Total protein, fat and ash contents were determined following AOAC (1990) methods. Lipid 97 5 oxidation was determined according Vyncke (1970), using a PerkinElmer Lambda EZ150 98 spectrophotometer (Waltham, MA, USA). Results were expressed as mg of malondialdehyde 99 (MDA)/kg of samples. Fatty acids were determined ...

The objective of this work was to evaluate, under indoors and outdoors rearing, the effect of crossing Cinta Senese (CS) with Italian Large White (ILW) and Italian Duroc (ID) breeds. Starting from 72 d of age, 9 CS, 8 ILWxCS and 7 IDxCS were reared outdoors (OUT) in 3 paddocks of 2 ha and 8 CS, 10 ILWxCS and 8 IDxCS pigs were reared indoors (IN) in three pens of 20 m 2 . All pigs, fed the same commercial diets, were weighed and measured periodically and were slaughtered at a target live weight of 150 kg. Indoor-pigs grew faster than the outdoor ones and crossbred pigs showed higher average daily gain than CS breed (476, 437 and 387 g/d for IDxCS, ILWxCS and CS, respectively). Rearing system had moderate or null effect on carcass and sample cut composition whereas the OUT pigs, when compared to IN ones, showed higher moisture and lower IMF in Longissimus L. and Psoas M. muscles and higher cooking loss of meat (22.1 vs 18.4 %) that resulted also less red (a* 10.94 vs 12.04). CS had more fat in carcass and more bone in sample cut than the crossbreeds. ILWxCS showed lower IMF content and higher moisture in muscles and brighter and less red meat than the other breeds, while IDxCS produced the most tender meat after cooking. The use of Italian Duroc could be profitable on Cinta Senese to improve the farming performance without worsening the fresh meat quality.

The volatile compounds profile is an important feature for the characterization of dry-cured hams. Some minor typical Italian products, such as 'Toscano' ham, have been poorly studied in regards to their composition of volatile compounds. In this article, we studied the evolution of the aromatic profile of 'Toscano' dry-cured ham by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatographic-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) with ripening. Ten right thighs were cured according to the 'Toscano' PDO protocol, sampled at 0, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and submitted to volatile compounds analysis by SPME with a Divinylbenzene (DVB)/Carboxen/Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) 75-µ Stable Flex fibre. An Agilent 5975C mass selective detector (MSD) spectrometer with electron ionization (EI) source operating in scan mode within the m/z 29-350 range was used for data collection. Seven internal standards, either deuterium labeled or absent in the specimens and chosen to represent low or high boiling esters, alcohols, acids or phenols, were added to the homogenized samples and used to normalize the SPME fibre response to account for response changes upon wearing. Linear calibrations were obtained in this way for selected representative compounds. Over 60 compounds belonging to esters, aldehydes, organic acids, ketones and alcohols were identified by comparison with spectral libraries and Kovats indices. Aldehydes were the most represented chemical family, followed by organic acids, alcohols, ketones and esters. The aldehydes and ketones increased during the first 3 months, when the larger formation of volatiles occurred. For other families, the evolution over time was less evident. The principal component and discriminant analyses of the aromatic profile were effective in classifying the hams at 0, 6 or 12 months of ripening while for 1 and 3 months' samples a partial overlapping was shown. These results represent the first characterization of 'Toscano' ham and may constitute the basis to identify the best ripening time and define an analytical quality standard for this typical ham.

This trial was aimed to verify the effect of fattening with chestnut on carcass characteristics and on quality traits of products of Cinta Senese breed. Thirty-three Cinta Senese pigs were allotted into three groups. One group was fed a commercial feedstuff (0-CH), the other two groups were fed chestnut for one (1-CH) or three (3-CH) months. Pigs were slaughtered at 130 kg of live weight. The 1-CH group showed significantly lower pH value at 24 h (P b 0.05). For sample joint dissection a significant effect (P b 0.05) of feeding system was found only on intermuscular fat, highest in 1-CH. A significant effect of feeding system (P b 0.05) was found on physical and chemical parameters of Longissimus lumborum: the 3-CH group showed the highest values (P b 0.05) of L*, a*, b*, drip loss, cooking loss, shear force and intramuscular fat on raw meat. The 3-CH showed significantly higher level (P b 0.05) of unsaturation for the highest percentage of MUFA and PUFA.

SUMMARYEffect of pasture on chestnut or acorn on fatty acid composition and aromatic profile of fat of Cinta Senese dry-cured ham.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pasture on oak and chestnut grove on chemical and aromatic traits of Cinta Senese cured ham. Fifteen Cinta Senese barrows (124 kg of l.w. on average) were allotted to three groups: one group (MI) was reared outdoors in confined area and fed commercial feedstuff. The other two groups were raised under free-range conditions on acorn (AC) or chestnut (CH) woods. At slaughtering (148 kg of l.w.) the right thighs were seasoned for 360 days, on average, to obtained cured hams. Results demonstrated that subcutaneous fat of ham of CH and AC groups, respect to CONC group, was the richest in MUFA (51.3 and 53.9 vs 49.5% respectively), because of the higher content of oleic acid (48.4 and 50.8 vs 46.2%, respectively). AC showed a lower percentage of PUFA than CH and CONC (13.8 vs 15.4 and 16.3%, respectively). As regard volatile compounds, AC, respect to CH and MI groups, showed the highest value of aldehydes (44.1 vs 30.3 and 33.5% respectively) and ethers (4.04 vs 1.15 and 1.71% respectively).