Impact of a 25% Salt Reduction on the Microbial Load, Texture, and Sensory Attributes of a Traditional Dry-Cured Sausage

• Published in: Foods Vol. 9; no. 5; p. 554
• Main Authors: Elias, Miguel, Laranjo, Marta, Potes, Maria Eduarda, Agulheiro-Santos, Ana Cristina, Fernandes, Maria José, Garcia, Raquel, Fraqueza, Maria João
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Aroma; Catalão; Chloride; Chromatography; Data analysis; Fatty acids; Food products; Food science; Genotypes; Humidity; low salt; Meat; Meat industry; Meat products; meat sausages; Microorganisms; Parameters; Perceptions; pig breed; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Pork; quality; Reduction; safety; Salt; Salts; Sausages; Sensory evaluation; Sensory properties; Sodium chloride; Software; Solvents; Stability analysis; Texture; United States > US; Portugal; Switzerland; Germany; pig breed; Catalão; safety; fatty acids profile; meat sausages; low salt; quality
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods9050554

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 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, a , and microbiological parameters. PUFA content was significantly higher for Al , 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 was significantly influenced by salt content and genotype. Al samples were less adhesive, cohesive, and easier to chew. Low-salt 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 .