Sensory acceptability of slow fermented sausages based on fat content and ripening time

Abstract

Low fat dry fermented sausages were manufactured using controlled ripening conditions and a slow fermented process. The effect of fat content and ripening time on the chemical, colour, texture parameters and sensory acceptability was studied. The fat reduction in slow fermented sausages produced an increase in the pH decline during the first stage of the process that was favoured by the higher water content of the low fat sausages. Fat reduction did not affect the external appearance and there was an absence of defects but lower fat content resulted in lower sausage lightness. The sausage texture in low fat sausages caused an increase in chewiness and at longer ripening times, an increase in hardness. The sensory acceptability of the fermented sausages analyzed by internal preference mapping depended on the different preference patterns of consumers. A group of consumers preferred sausages with high and medium fat content and high ripening time. The second group of consumers preferred sausages with low ripening time regardless of fat content except for the appearance, for which these consumers preferred sausages of high ripening time. Finally, the limit to produce high acceptability low fat fermented sausages was 16% fat content in the raw mixture that is half the usual content of dry fermented sausages.

Physicochemical and sensory properties of Celta dry-ripened “salchichón” as affected by fat content

“…Water activity (a w ) also showed a significant (P<0.001) decrease throughout the ripening period of "salchichón", reaching final values between 0.809 ± 0.010 and 0.818 ± 0.013 with no significant differences among the three batches manufactured with different fat contents. Similar results were previously reported by Olivares et al (2010) and Lorenzo and Franco (2012).…”

“…Concerning the effect of fat content on pH evolution, the results obtained in this work are in agreement with those reported by Gómez and Lorenzo (2013), who stated that "chorizo" from the Celta pig breed manufactured with 10% fat content showed a less significant pH decline than those with higher fat contents. Nevertheless, the trend reported in similar studies (Soyer et al, 2005;Olivares et al, 2010;Lorenzo and Franco, 2012) showed a greater decrease in pH values in sausages manufactured with the lowest fat content, while other authors (Liaros et al, 2009;Salazar et al, 2009) observed that the effect of fat level on pH evolution throughout the ripening was not significant.…”

“…In general, the color parameters (L*, a* and b*) of the sausages were affected by both fat level and ripening time, with the effect of the latter being the most evident in all batches. Lightness (L*) values decreased significantly during the ripening, yielding darker sausages as the process progresses, probably due to moisture loss (Olivares et al, 2010;Gómez and Lorenzo, 2013). A significant positive correlation between L* values and moisture (r = 0.485, P<0.01) and water activity (r = 0.625, P<0.01) was found.…”

“…Some authors reported that lowfat fermented sausages become hard, have high weight loss and an unacceptable appearance (Liaros et al, 2009). Olivares et al (2010) also concluded that low-fat sausages were less appreciated by consumers. However, a reduction in fat content would improve the nutritional quality of these sausages.…”

Reducing the Levels of Sodium, Saturated Animal Fat, and Nitrite in Dry-Cured Pork Meat Products: A Major Challenge

“…Their results also showed that consumer acceptance was closely correlated with high fat levels and long ripening times. In a preceding study, Olivares et al [59] had determined that the limit between acceptability and rejection by consumers of fat-reduced dry-fermented sausages corresponded to an initial fat content of 16%, which leaves room for a reduction of about 50%…”