Characteristics of Toscano cured ham of Cinta Senese and Large White x Cinta Senese pigs

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Characteristics of Toscano cured ham of Cinta Senese and Large White x Cinta Senese pigs Acciaioli A., Bozzi R., Campodoni G., Pianaccioli L., Pugliese C., Sirtori F. in Audiot A. (ed.), Casabianca F. (ed.), Monin G. (ed.). 5. International Symposium on the Mediterranean Pig Zaragoza : CIHEAM Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 76 2007 pages 201-205 Article available on line / Article disponible en ligne à l adresse : http://om.ciheam.org/article.php?idpdf=800585 To cite this article / Pour citer cet article Acciaioli A., Bozzi R., Campodoni G., Pianaccioli L., Pugliese C., Sirtori F. Characteristics of Toscano cured ham of Cinta Senese and Large White x Cinta Senese pigs. In : Audiot A. (ed.), Casabianca F. (ed.), Monin G. (ed.). 5. International Symposium on the Mediterranean Pig. Zaragoza : CIHEAM, 2007. p. 201-205 (Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 76) http://www.ciheam.org/ http://om.ciheam.org/

Characteristics of "Toscano" cured ham of Cinta Senese and Large White x Cinta Senese pigs R. Bozzi, G. Campodoni, A. Acciaioli, C. Pugliese, L. Pianaccioli and F. Sirtori Dipartimento di Scienze Zootecniche, Università di Firenze Via delle Cascine, 5. 50144 Firenze, Italy SUMMARY Technological yields of Toscano cured ham from two genetic types Cinta Senese () and Large White x Cinta Senese (LWx) were recorded from trimmed and cured ham. A sample slice was taken from cured hams of castrated males and meat quality traits were determined on Biceps femoris (Bf) and Semimembranosus (Sm) muscles. LWx produced more compact and better shaped fresh hams. No difference between genotypes was found regarding the technological yields apart of trimming losses, probably due to a greater adiposity of the which presented a higher incidence of subcutaneous fat. Dry-cured hams from LWx crosses are heavier, with better compactness and conformation indexes and with higher values for total lean of the slice than Cinta Senese purebred. hams were characterised by greater adiposity, which could negatively affect consumer acceptability. Keywords: Dry-cured ham, Cinta Senese breed, crossbreed, meat quality, autochthonous pig. RESUME "Caractéristiques du jambon sec "Toscano" issu de porcins Cinta Senese et Large White x Cinta Senese". Dans le présent essai, nous avons recherché l influence de deux génotypes Cinta Senese () et Large White x Cinta Senese (LWx) sur les caractéristiques technologiques du jambon sec Toscano. Sur un échantillon de jambon de mâles castrés, on a mesuré les paramètres physico-chimiques classiques dans le Biceps femoris (Bf) et le Semimembranosus (Sm). Après le séchage, les LWx ont présenté des jambons plus compacts et de meilleure conformation. Au regard des caractéristiques technologiques, on n a pas trouvé de différences significatives entre les deux génotypes excepté pour les pertes au parage qui ont été plus élevées dans les à cause d une teneur supérieure en graisse sous-cutanée. Les jambons secs de LWx ont présenté un poids supérieur, de meilleures compacité et conformation, et un pourcentage de tissu musculaire plus élevé. Les jambons secs de ont été caractérisés par un pourcentage supérieur de graisse, caractéristique qui pourrait influencer d une façon négative les consommateurs. Mots-clés : Jambon sec, race Cinta Senese, croisement, qualité de la viande, race locale. Introduction Pig production in Italy is based on Large White and Landrace breeds and other breeds are traditionally employed for crossbreeding, thus "hybrid pigs" represent the most used genotype (Sabbioni et al., 2004). Many studies have shown differences on dry-cured ham characteristics among traditional breeds (Bittante et al., 1991; Čandek-Potokar et al., 2002; Gallo et al., 1994; Gou et al., 1995; Sabbioni et al., 2002) whereas there are few studies where comparison between autochthonous breeds and their crossbreeds with improved genotypes are studied (Antequera Rojas et al., 1993; Antequera et al., 1994; Franci et al., 1997). Toscano cured ham is a typical meat product from the centre of Italy very appreciated by consumers, which has obtained the Denomination of Protected Origin (DOP). Cinta Senese breed is one of the breeds allowed to produce Toscano cured ham but among the breeders of Cinta Senese it s still debated its use as purebred or crossed with the improved breeds of the modern swine industry. The aim of this study was to assess the technological yields and the meat quality traits of the Toscano cured ham, obtained from Cinta Senese as purebred or crossbred. Materials and methods Fifty five cured hams of castrated male and female pigs were employed. Pigs belonged to Cinta Senese ( n=27) and Large White x Cinta Senese (LWx n=28) breeds and were reared outdoors Options Méditerranéennes, Series A, No. 76 201

with the same feeding system. The day after slaughter all right hams were processed in a commercial plant. After trimming, salting, and resting operations and at the end of seasoning period hams were weighed. Weight losses at different stages of processing were expressed as percentage of the ham weight at previous stage. Hams were cured according to the transformation rules of Prosciutto Toscano D.O.P. On trimmed and cured ham measures of length, width and thickness were recorded. On cured hams of the sole castrated males (12 and 14 LWx) a sample slice was taken. The main tissues and muscles were separated and weighed and samples of Biceps femoris and Semimembranosus were taken for determination of total lipid, moisture, total nitrogen, ash and Warner Bratzler shear force. Data were analysed using the GLM procedure of SAS (2003). The following statistical model was used: y ijk = µ + B i + S j + b(x ijk ) + ε ijk where: B i = fixed effect of the i th breed; S j = fixed effect of the j th sex; (X ijk ) = covariate (trimmed ham weight) expressed as the difference of individual data from the mean of the i th group. Sex effect was obviously not included in the analysis of the sample slice of cured hams. Results and discussion Table 1 reports weights and morphological characteristics of ham. Trimmed hams of crossbreed pigs were heavier and had greater measures of length, width and thickness than those of. A similar pattern resulted also after the seasoning period. LWx produced more compact and better shaped hams because of the greater transversal measure. Indexes of both and LWx were markedly lower than those reported for dry-cured Parma hams (Sabbioni et al., 2004) and for xlw pigs both as fresh or seasoned hams (Franci et al., 1994; 1997). Nevertheless it has to be pointed out that hams of this trial included the distal part of the leg that strongly affects the values of the two considered indexes. Table 1. Weight and morphological characteristics of ham (n=27) (n=28) Trimmed ham Weight (kg) 9.4 12.6 * 9.2 Length (cm) 72.3 76.2 * 4.3 Width (cm) 27.2 30.6 * 1.0 Thickness (cm) 16.2 18.0 * 0.9 Compactness index a (g/cm) 129.7 165.7 * 8.6 Conformation index b 37.9 40.3 * 3.1 Cured ham Length (cm) 68.0 71.0 * 1.9 Width (cm) 27.0 29.9 * 0.9 Thickness (cm) 10.8 12.2 * 0.5 Compactness index a (g/cm) 93.9 122.3 * 6.0 Conformation index b 39.7 42.1 * 1.6 a Weight/Length. b (Width/Length) * 100. 202 Options Méditerranéennes, Series A, No. 76

No difference between genotypes was found about the technological yields (Table 2) apart of trimming losses, probably due to a greater adiposity of the hams according to higher fatness of carcass observed in previous work (Campodoni et al., 2003). Such yields are in agreement with those observed by Franci et al. (1997) on xlw pigs. Lower weight losses in hams of crossed animals respect to pure breed were found by Guerrero et al. (1996), whereas Gou et al. (1995) and Oliver et al. (1994) reported no difference in ham processing losses between various genotypes but nobody of them used pigs from unimproved breeds. The weight loss at the end of the seasoning period of the present trial was lower than those related by some authors (Gou et al., 1995; Čandek-Potokar et al., 2002) but higher than those reported for Parma hams by Sabbioni et al. (2004). Table 2. Technological yields (%) (n=27) (n=28) Trimming 20.4 18.4 * 1.9 Salting 6.4 5.8 2.3 Resting 10.6 9.6 2.5 Seasoning 17.7 17.9 1.4 Total 31.8 31.1 3.0 Respect to weight at previous phase. Cured weight/trimmed weight *100. The greater adiposity of Cinta Senese hams is confirmed observing the slice composition (Table 3). In fact hams presented an higher incidence of subcutaneous fat whereas no difference between genetic types was found for intermuscular fat. Hams from LWx showed more lean tissue than due to an higher incidence of Semitendinosus and Biceps femoris muscles. Table 3. Tissue composition (%) of sample slice of cured ham (n=12) (n=14) Trimming 20.4 18.4 * 1.9 Subcutaneous fat 32.6 23.6 * 4.8 Intermuscular fat 1.4 1.7 0.6 Lean 66.0 74.7 * 4.7 Biceps femoris (Bf) 23.9 28.8 * 3.8 Semimembranosus (Sm) 30.9 31.7 3.6 Semitendinosus (St) 10.5 11.9 * 1.5 As it concerns the chemical analysis (Table 4), the two muscles showed different behaviour: Sm had lower moisture and higher protein and fat contents in LWx than in which indicates that moisture loss was more important in the former. LW breed affects the chemical traits of Bf muscle only for protein content. WB shear force were similar between genotypes and Sm seems to be more tender than Bf. The higher resistance to cutting that was observed in the Bf was probably due to the lower intramuscular fat content as already observed by Čandek-Potokar et al. (2002) whereas the lowest moisture of Bf is related to the fact that this muscle is covered by subcutaneous fat. Options Méditerranéennes, Series A, No. 76 203

Table 4. Chemical-physical traits of Biceps femoris and Semimembranosus muscles of cured ham Semimembranosus (n=12) (n=14) Moisture (%) 47.2 41.3 * 2.9 Ether extract (%) 5.2 6.9 * 1.8 Protein (%) 39.3 45.0 * 3.6 Ash (%) 8.4 7.7 * 0.4 Warner Bratzler (kg) 20.5 21.4 5.2 Biceps femoris Moisture (%) 52.6 53.4 0.6 Ether extract (%) 4.1 4.1 0.6 Protein (%) 32.0 33.0 * 1.3 Ash (%) 11.2 10.6 0.7 Warner Bratzler (kg) 24.9 25.5 5.2 A similar pattern of chemical and physical traits has been found in Alentejano pigs (Neves et al., 2000) both for the two muscles, but our pigs seem to have lower lipid content regardless of the genotype considered; this aspect seems to influence the toughness of the ham resulted higher in or LWx pigs when compared to Portuguese breed. As concern Bf muscle, WB shear force is similar to that found for xlw whereas moisture is slightly lower (Franci et al., 1996). Even when compared with Corsican or Corsican x Large White pigs (Coutron Gambotti et al., 1998) our animals have lower lipid content and this "low" level of lipids placed the Cinta Senese breed between improved an unimproved genotypes. Conclusions The use of Large White x Cinta Senese crosses at the aim of Toscano dry-cured ham production seems interesting. As a matter of fact dry-cured hams from LWx crosses are heavier, with better compactness and conformation indexes and with higher value of total lean of the slice than Cinta Senese purebred, that could be considered as beneficial from a commercial point of view. hams were characterised by a greater adiposity that, in many cases, negatively affects consumer acceptability. Therefore, the ban of crossbreed animals in the Denomination of Protected Origin (DOP) of Cinta Senese products must be carefully weighed before any decision will be taken. Acknowledgments Financial supports of Regional Agency for Innovation in Agriculture of Tuscany (ARSIA Toscana). The authors thank the managerial and technical staff of the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (ex-asfd administration) of Siena. References Antequera Rojas, T., Cordoba Ramos, J.J., Ruiz Carrascal, J., Martín Cáceres, L., and Ventanas Barroso, J. (1993). A comparison of the free fatty acids and volatile aldehydes from Iberian and Iberian Duroc hams. Alimentaria, 93: 27-30. Antequera, T., García, C., López, C., Ventanas, J., Asensio, M.A. and Cordoba, J J. (1994). Evolution of di.erent physico-chemical parameters during ripening Iberian ham from Iberian (100%) and Iberian x Duroc pigs (50%). Rev. Esp. de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos, 34: 178-190. 204 Options Méditerranéennes, Series A, No. 76

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