Nutritional properties and consumer evaluation of donkey bresaola and salami: Comparison with conventional products

• Donkey bresaola and salami showed higher nutritional value than conventional products.
• The use of donkey meat reduced the atherogenicity and thrombogenicity indices.
• Donkey meat products showed higher content of essential amino acids than that of conventional products.
• Both donkey meat products resulted to be more tender than conventional products.
• Sensory attributes of both donkey meat products were comparable to conventional products.

Nutritional properties and consumer evaluation were performed in bresaola and salami from donkey meat compared with respective conventional products. Donkey bresaola and salami showed higher content of protein and lower content of fat than beef bresaola and pork salami. Significant differences in the unsaturation level of fatty acids were found. Particularly, donkey meat products showed lower saturated fatty acids, higher polyunsatured fatty acid content and better nutritional indices than conventional beef bresaola and pork salami. Furthermore, donkey meat products, especially bresaola, showed the highest content of essential amino acids. Both donkey meat products resulted to be more tender than conventional products, in addition donkey bresaola showed also higher consumer acceptability. Our investigation demonstrates the possibility of processing donkey meat into products comparable to traditional ones with a high nutritional value.