Several techniques for the preparation of flour from carcasses of the Pantanal alligator (Caiman crocodilus yacare)

Abstract

Flour prepared via current assay methodologies from the carcasses of the Pantanal alligator (Caiman crocodilus yacare) was analyzed for its chemical composition, minerals, fatty acids, and sensorial profile. Carcasses of the Pantanal alligator, originating from the Coocrijapan scientific zoo, Cáceres MT Brazil, were utilized. The carcasses were cooked for 60 minutes in a pressure cooker with water containing 2% salt and 5% chimichurri. The cooked carcasses were then ground and the mass was used for the manufacture of flour via three techniques: non-smoked, hot-smoked, and liquid-smoked. After each technique, the carcasses were dehydrated at 60ºC for 3h and were ground. Alligator flour was then produced. The moisture of liquid-smoked flour (10.97%) was higher than that of non-smoked flour (3.78%) and hot-smoked flour (4.43%). The flours provided high protein (57.11% -58.27%) and ash (23.45 -26.42%) rates, and were predominantly calcium (6.77% -7.69%), phosphorus (3.67% -4.05%), and iron (73.13 -273.73 ppm/100 mg). Smoked-flour had a better acceptance rate by tasters when compared to non-smoked flour. Results show that flours produced from alligator carcasses had high protein, ash, and mineral rates and a reasonable acceptability by most tasters.

Development and Characterization of Low Fat Cooked Yacare (Caiman Yacare) Meat Sausages

“…The lipid content was 3.34% for T1, 5.36% for T2, and 1.69% for T3, with a significant difference between all treatments (p<0.05) (Table 2). Lipid contents around 3.94% were obtained elsewhere for yacare carcasses (Fernandes et al, 2015). Despite the difference between treatments, the lipid content of the cooked sausages was quite similar to that obtained for yacare meat.…”

“…Carbohydrates were obtained by difference, and amounted to 0.58, 2.65, and 8.51% for T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The contribution of carbohydrates from the yacare tissue is minimum (0.07%) (Fernandes et al, 2015). Thus, variations in carbohydrate contents are also related to the sausage composition, so T1 contained the lowest amount of carbohydrate, which was likely due to it having the lowest inulin content (1%), while more carbohydrate was found in T2 (2% inulin) and T3 (3% inulin), explained by the addition of greater amounts of oligosaccharide inulin, i.e., the more inulin added, the greater the carbohydrate content.…”

Emulsified sausages obtained from mechanically separated meat of yacare caiman (Caiman yacare)

“…Again, for comparisons, it presents the 3.67% lipid content reported for yacare meat sausages added of pork fat (Fernandes et al, 2013) and the 1.69-5.36% range obtained for yacare meat-based sausages (Cavenaghi-Altemio et al, 2021). All these values are close to the average lipid content of 3.94% obtained elsewhere for yacare carcasses (Fernandes et al, 2015).…”

“…Finally, the carbohydrate content observed by difference for T1, T2, and T3 was 2.07, 4.11, and 4.42%, respectively (Table 2), with the cassava starch and the sugars the ingredients that mainly contributed to it. The contribution of carbohydrates from the yacare itself is irrisory (0.07%) (Fernandes et al, 2015). Another study reported carbohydrates ranging from 0.58 to 8.51% in yacare sausages.…”

“…These differences may be related to differences mainly due to the addition of condiments and salts with inorganic residues (Cavenaghi-Altemio et al, 2013;Cavenaghi-Altemio et al, 2021) because the ash content of the yacare meat itself, which is the main ingredient of the sausages, is very reduced. Some values of ash reported in the literature for yacare meat are 1.00-1.05% (Romanelli et al, 2002), 0.70-0.95% (Vicente , 1.19% (Fernandes et al, 2015), and 1.2-1.4% (Fernandes et al, 2017).…”