Physicochemical properties, fatty acid profile and sensory characteristics of sheep and goat meat sausages manufactured with different pork fat levels

• Contribution to the creation and elaboration of a new kind of meat product of sheep and goat.
• Three pork backfat levels were assayed on sheep and goat meat sausages.
• The creation of this product gave added value to these culled animals.
• All physicochemical parameters were affected by the addition of pork backfat.

The effect of three pork backfat levels (0% vs. 10% vs. 30%) on chemical composition, fatty acid profile and sensory properties on sheep and goat meat sausages was studied. All physicochemical parameters were affected by the addition of pork backfat in both types of sausages. Sausages manufactured with 30% of pork backfat showed the lowest moisture and protein contents and the highest total fat content. The lower aw values in sausages manufactured with higher fat content while in pH happened the reverse situation. The addition of pork backfat modified the total fatty acid profile, prompting a significant drop in the relative percentages of C14:0, C16:0, C17:0, C17:1, C18:0 and TVA (trans-vaccenic acid), together with a marked increase in oleic and linoleic acids. Finally, in goat sausages, the fat content significantly affected sensory parameters: taste, texture and overall acceptability (P < 0.05). As expected, all physicochemical parameters were affected by the addition of pork backfat in both types of sausages.