Influence of smoking in traditional and industrial conditions on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons content in dry fermented sausages (Petrovská klobása) from Serbia

•Content of PAH in Petrovská klobása smoked in traditional and industrial conditions were analyzed.•Analyses were performed on gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer.•Content of BaP was below the limit of detection in all samples of Petrovská klobása.•PAH content in sausages smoked in traditional conditions were higher than in industrial conditions.•Petrovská klobása satisfies EU regulation regarding PAH content and is safe for its consumers.

The aim of this study was to determine the content of 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (acenaphthylene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and benzo[ghi]perylene) from Environmental Protection Agency list (US-EPA PAHs) in traditional dry fermented sausage Petrovská klobása. Sausages, stuffed in collagen and natural casings, were smoked in traditional (A1, A2, B1 and B2 - direct smoking) and industrial (B3 and B4 - indirect smoking) conditions.The highest total content of 13 US-EPA PAHs was determined in sausages stuffed in natural casings and smoked in traditional conditions at both examined periods, at the end of drying, as well as at the end of storage period (220 μg/kg and 495 μg/kg, respectively). The lowest content of these compounds was determined in sausages stuffed in collagen casings and smoked in industrial conditions, also at both examined periods (31.3 μg/kg; 54.1 μg/kg respectively). Phenanthrene (A1-120; A2-119; B2-37.6 and B4-13.1 μg/kg) and acenaphthylene (B1-45.0 and B3-18.3 μg/kg) were the most abundant PAHs in all examined sausage samples at the end of drying period, while at the end of storage period the most abundant PAHs were phenanthrene (A1-201; A2-107; B2-49.4 and B3-38.7 μg/kg) and anthracene (B1-34.4 and B4-20.1 μg/kg). Benzo[a]pyrene, whose maximum allowed content in smoked meat products is 5 μg/kg (EC No. 1881/2006), was below the limit of detection in all examined samples. Also, PAH4 (sum content of benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene) a more suitable indicator for the occurrence of PAHs, with maximum allowed content in smoked meat products of 30 μg/kg (EC No. 835/2011), was below the limit of detection in all examined samples.According to the results obtained in this study, traditional dry fermented sausage Petrovská klobása, smoked in traditional and industrial conditions was safe for its consumers regarding European regulation on PAHs content.