Fatty Acid Composition of Dry Fermented Sausages Made with Low Value Pork Raw Material 
Susana P. Alves1, Maria J. Fernandes1, Maria H. Fernandes1, Rui J.B. Bessa1, Marta Laranjo2, Ana C.A.-Santos2, Miguel Elias2, Maria J. Fraqueza1
1CIISA, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMV), Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), Lisboa, Portugal, 2 ICAAM, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal

In order to satisfy exigent consumers, Iberian industry aims to produce dry fermented sausages (DFS) with high quality using Alentejano or Iberian pig breeds. However, they have a high price and in some periods there is lack of raw material to supply the production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the fatty acid (FA) composition of DFS made with low value pork raw material from Alentejano purebred sows and a crossbred Iberian x Duroc pigs. The nutritional fat values of DFS with different diameters/curing time were assessed (Chouriço-smal diameter/25 days vs. Paio-large diameter/40 days). The FA methyl ester derivatives were prepared from meat sausages by a transesterification procedure with KOH in methanol followed by the addition of H2SO4. FA were quantified using a Shimadzu GC-MS QP2010 equipped with a fused silica capillary column (BPX-70, 100m × 0.25mm × 0.20μm, SGE). Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Inst.) and considering the pork raw material (Alentejano sow vs. Iberian x Duroc), the diameter/curing time (Chouriço vs. Paio) and their interaction as fixed effects. The total FA content varied from 198 to 223 mg/g of product, however, it was not affected (P>0.05) by sausage diameter or pork raw material. The greater differences on FA composition of DFS were obtained between pork raw materials and are probably due to different feeding systems of pigs rather than to differences between genotypes. Regarding the DFS fat nutritional quality, those produced with Alentejano sows presented the highest content of polyunsaturated FA, which are considered to be healthier to human consumption and DFS made with crossed pigs contain more saturated FA.

Financial support though the Project PRODER- PA Nº13017 and the individual grant to SPA (SFRH/BPD/76836/2011) are acknowledged.