Study of the shelf life of a dry fermented sausage “salchichon” made from raw material enriched in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and stored under modified atmospheres

The microbiological, physico-chemical and sensory properties of salchichon with high unsaturated fat content, packed under vacuum and 20/80% CO2/N2 modified atmosphere, were evaluated to determine its quality changes during storage under refrigeration. These sausages were manufactured with pork meat and pork backfat obtained from pigs fed with three different diets (control diet-CO, high oleic diet-HO and high linoleic diet-HL). In general, few significant differences were found in counts of different groups of microorganism between the three types of sausages and no difference between the packaging methods. A reduction in pH values was observed during storage and no great differences were determined by storage period on water activity (aw). Both parameters (pH and aw) presented similar results to those found in different Spanish sausages and other European dry fermented products. The sensory results denoted that sensory quality gradually decreased during storage under both packaging conditions (vacuum and 20/80% CO2/N2), so it is not advisable to store longer than 150 days. On the other hand, fermented sausages with high content of unsaturated fatty acids had similar sensory properties to those of conventional sausages, and even a comparable sensory stability. In conclusion, the results showed healthier salchichons (HO and HL) similar to the traditional (CO) one could be manufactured and stored under refrigeration after slicing for a reasonable period, but the advantage of the gas mixture packaging (20/80% CO2/N2) versus vacuum packaging was not clear.