M. Morgante

Fatty acid composition of heavy pig back fat in relationship to some animal factors

Abstarct The influence of genetic type, lean meat percentage and sex on fatty acids (FA) composition of back fat of heavy pigs, reared for the production of San Daniele dry cured ham, was studied. One-hundred pigs of four genetic types - Large White or Duroc x (Landrace x Large White), GOLAND and DANBRED - were considered. They were randomly chosen during the slaughtering of 21 lots of heavy animals, in groups of four to eight subjects, balanced by sex, female and castrated males, and carcass leanness, U and R classes following the European grading system. Principal components (PCs) analysis showed that 94.3% of lot-diets’ FA variability was accounted for a five PCs model. The diet effect on the lard composition was weighted using the PCs scores as covariates in a tri-factorial (genotype, carcass leanness, sex) covariance design. Diet had a great effect on lard composition, indeed every examined back fat FA co-varied with the extracted PCs. On the other hand, sex effect never reached a significance threshold, as well as the interactions between factors. Genetic type influenced stearic acid and MUFA content and n6-PUFA to n3-PUFA ratio of back fat while leanness mainly influenced PUFA, the fatter class showing a significantly lower content of linoleic acid (13.2 vs. 11.9% total lipids in U vs. R class respectively).

Effect of pork lard content on the chemical, microbiological and sensory properties of a typical fermented meat product (Pitina) obtained from Alpagota sheep

The aim was to investigate the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of Pitina, a typical fermented meat product and evaluate the effect of two levels of pork lard content (Low Fat, LF, 10% vs. High Fat, HF, 30%) on its attributes. HF attained lower pH than LF Pitina, which reached lower water activity. LAB comprised the major flora with substantial counts of micrococci, enterococci and mould and yeast. Gram negative Enterobacteria were recovered as coliforms and faecal coliforms. Listeria monocytogenes was also isolated. The lard level influenced the count of micrococci and some sensory attributes. LF attained higher scores for both hardness and cohesiveness and differed from HF in having a more marked odour of ewe and smoke and sweeter taste. HF had a more pronounced odour and taste of garlic and mould than LF.

Effect of the dam’s feeding regimen on the meat quality of light suckling lambs

Abstract In order to verify the effect of the introduction of concentrates without GMO risk and at low aflatoxin risk in the diet of grazing milk ewes on the quanti-qualitative production of meat of their milk-fed light lambs, two trials were carried out - in Sicily, on 32 Comisana lambs, slaughtered at 49±4 days (trial 1); and in Sardinia, on 28 Sarda lambs, slaughtered at 31±4 days(trial 2) - comparing the following grazing dams’ feeding regimes: High stocking rate + Organic (barley – tickbean or pea) Concentrate (HO); High stocking rate + Conventional (maize-soybean) Concentrate (HC); Low stocking rate + Organic Concentrate (LO); Low stocking rate + Conventional Concentrate (LC). Lamb performances, carcass quality, meat colour and lipid content were not modified by dam’s feeding regimen. However, significant differences were observed in the fatty acid (FA) composition of the intramuscular fat of the older suckling lambs of trial 1. The main variation concerned n-3 polyunsaturated FAs and conjugated linoleic acids.

Quality differences in cheeses produced by lowland and highland units of the Alpine transhumant system

Riassunto Differenze qualitative di formaggi prodotti a fondovalle e in alpeggio nell’ambito del sistema transumante alpino. I sistemi transumanti alpini utilizzano foraggi di fondovalle d’inverno e pascoli d’estate. Il latte prodotto da 2 gruppi omogenei di 25 bovine Pezzate Rosse Italiane, allevate rispettivamente in fondovalle e in alpeggio, è stato caseificato separatamente per 3 giorni consecutivi nel mese di luglio. Sui formaggi, stagionati per 3 mesi, sono state condotte analisi chimiche, reologiche, sensoriali e dei composti aromatici. I risultati hanno evidenziato differenze tra i due tipi di formaggio in termini di composizione chimica, caratteristiche sensoriali e componenti aromatiche.

Effect of ageing time on consumer-perceived quality of Italian Simmental beef

Abstract The aim of the experiment was to provide an objective indication on the optimal ageing time of meat from Italian Simmental (IS) young bulls, the most important commercial category of the breed. The research was carried out on 10 young bulls slaughtered at the average weight of 688 kg (SE: 7.3 kg). The right side of each carcass was stored for 7 days and the left one for further 7 days, at normal refrigeration temperatures. At the end of the ageing period, the sides were sampled at the loin for meat pH, color, cooking loss and shear force measurement. A central location, affective test involving 74 consumers was carried out to measure the degree of liking for grilled beef aged 7 or 14 days. The pH and color parameters were not significantly affected by the duration of post-mortem storage, while cooking loss increased (31.4 vs 32.6 %; P<0.05) and shear force values diminished (56.7 vs 46.8 N; P< 0.01) when ageing time increased from 7 to 14 days. The degree of liking by the untrained respondents for the two types of cooked meat was different, considering that consumers gave the highest hedonistic scores to beef aged 14 days. Tenderness was the sensory attribute that allowed the best discrimination between beef stored for periods of different length. In fact, while the difference between 14-day-aged and 7-day-aged beef for flavour ratings (7.0 vs 6.9) did not reach the threshold of significance, the former meat was perceived as significantly finer than the latter regarding tenderness (6.5 vs 5.6; P= 0.01) and marginally preferred in overall terms (6.9 vs 6.5; P= 0.07). The classification test, carried out at the end of the quantitative test by asking consumers to select from a list the most appropriate attributes describing the stimuli associated with meat consumption, confirmed the effectiveness of texture attributes in ranking different-aged beef acceptability. In fact, the number of ticks reported for chewiness and juiciness descriptors were different for the two types of meat: the 14-day-aged beef was perceived as easier to chew (57 vs 34 ticks) and juicier (42 vs 24) than the shortest-aged beef. Ageing for 14 days should be recommended as a process control point for the beef industry to improve consumer acceptance of IS young bull beef.

Chemical, physiochemical properties and microbiological characterization of a typical product, Pitina, made by Alpagota sheep meat

Abstract The microbiological and physicochemical properties of a typical fermented meat product called Pitina, prepared using ground sheep meat mixed with a variable proportion of pork lard, were studied in order to firstly assess them and to evaluate the effect of two levels of lard pork content (10% vs. 30%, weight basis) and of two ripening conditions adopted by producers (traditional vs. modified atmosphere) on the quality of final products. Both, the level of lard and the ripening condition influenced the physicochemical values and then the chemical characteristics of the ripened product. Instead, the microbiological profile seemed not to be strongly affected by the studied conditions and all batches examined showed high count of enterobacteria, coliforms and gram negative bacteria at the end of the sixty-day maturation period.

Sensory quality of meat from lambs fed on different diets

Riassunto Qualità sensoriale della carne di agnelli alimentati con diete differenti. Sono state sottoposte ad analisi sensoriale le carni di agnelli di razza Gentile di Puglia alimentati per sei settimane, dall’età di circa 50 giorni, con tre mangimi completi bilanciati: il primo contenente farina di estrazione di soia (Soia), il secondo farina integrale di lupino al 25% (Lupino), il terzo buccetta d’uva al 25% (Buccetta). E’ stato eseguito un panel test su campioni di l. dorsi cucinati in un forno a 120°C sino al raggiungimento di una temperatura di 68-70°C all’interno del campione. Il profilo sensoriale ha considerato nove descrittori della tessitura e del flavour. La tesi Lupino rispetto a quella Soia non ha mostrato differenze significative rispetto all’odore di “Pecora” e di “Fegato”, alla “Grassezza ed alla “Succosità” anche se un giudizio globale richiede ulteriori indagini. Validi nel loro insieme i risultati sulla tesi Buccetta.