Technological and quality characteristics of cooked ham-type pâté elaborated with sheep meat

The use of meat from adult sheep to replace (at 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100% final concentrations) the pork meat in a ham-type pâté formulation was studied and several technological and sensory quality properties were determined. The test results demonstrated no significant (P > 0.05) differences in the chemical composition (water, proteins, lipids and ash contents), pH, water activity, oxidation index according to the TBARS value and the consistency of the different treatments. The content of total and nitrous heme pigments in the pâtés containing sheep-meat were higher (P < 0.05) than in the ham pâté, but the percentage of conversion of the heme pigments to the nitrous form was not affected (P > 0.05). According to the CIELAB color values, the samples became (P < 0.05) darker (less L*) and redder (high a*, C* and h* values) as the sheep-meat content was increased. However, these color alterations did not affect (P > 0.05) the overall sensory impression of consumers and the pâtés containing sheep meat achieved a preference value similar to that of the ham pâté. The use of meat from discarded sheep in the preparation of pâtés conferred higher added value to this product and generated a new product with quality characteristics and sensory acceptance similar to that of ham pâté.