Fat content reduction and lipid profile improvement in Portuguese fermented sausages alheira

Alfredo Teixeira; Alberto Fernandes; Etelvina Pereira

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05306

Fat content reduction and lipid profile improvement in Portuguese fermented sausages alheira

Heliyon. 2020 Oct 19;6(10):e05306. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05306. eCollection 2020 Oct.

Authors

Alfredo Teixeira¹, Alberto Fernandes², Etelvina Pereira¹

Affiliations

¹ Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal.
² Bísaro - Salsicharia Tradicional, Gimonde, 5300-553 Bragança, Portugal.

Abstract

Due to the current trend to reduce fat consumption, the meat food industry, has been increasing the strategies to produce and commercialize products where the reduction or even elimination of saturated fat is an important goal. This study aimed to test different formulas to reduce the fat content and improve the lipid profile in the Portuguese fermented sausage alheira. Data indicate that the three composition formulas of alheiras tested are not a hypercaloric product and the fatty acid profile could be improved changing the sources of fat and specie of meat, particularly reducing the palmitic and stearic acids and the myristic acid contents and increasing the oleic, linoleic and palmitoleic acid contents. The industry could diversify its offer with two new composition formulas, a pork-free alheira, and oil-free alheira, reducing the fat content and improving the fatty acid profile.

Keywords: Alheira; Fatty acid profile; Food analysis; Food science; Nutrition; Reducing fat.