The production of typical cured meats from cattle of Cinisara breed

In recent years consumers prefer genuine, tasty, protein-rich, low in fat and cholesterol products. The Cinisara cow is a dairy Sicilian autochthonous breed, reared in the western part of the isle according to the traditional livestock system, based on grazing natural pastures. The meat of Cinisara cattle could be used to obtain also processed products, among which salami and bresaola, as commercial alternatives to fresh meat, in order to increase the economic profitability of farms. The aim of this research was to produce bresaola and salami with meat from adult cows (AC) and grazing (GB) or housed (HB) young bulls of Cinisara breed, evaluating their physico-chemical and sensory traits. In the last 3 months, all animals were fed with hay ad libitum and concentrate; moreover AC and GB were continuously grazing pasture until slaughtering. After a week maturation phase in cold room, the carcasses were dissected to separate semimembranosus (SM), semitendinosus (ST) and biceps brachii (BB) muscles for bresaola production, and using the rest of meat for salami production. The muscles, after removing fat and external tendons, were salted in 2 steps for a total of 14 days at 4°C. After they were placed to drain for 8 days at 4°C and subsequently stuffed into natural casing and transferred to drying cells. For the preparation of the salami, the meat of the three animal categories was minced separately and added with 20% of lard from pigs of “Nero dei Nebrodi” breed cut into cubes, and a mixture of salt and spices. Each mixture was separately stuffed into natural casings of straight type (35 cm in length and 7 cm in diameter). During the phases of dripping, fermentation and maturation, the salami and bresaola were stored in rooms with controlled temperature and relative humidity for 45 and 35 days, respectively. The fat content (% DM) was higher in AC both for bresaola (9.68 vs 4.78 in HB and 3.52 in GB; P≤0.001) and salami (41.46 vs 36.96 in HB and 32.62 in GB; P≤0.01) due to the higher fat content of meat. Also the total fatty acid (FA) content (%DM) was higher in AC both for bresaola (8.90 vs 4.37 in HB and 3.13 in GB; P≤0.001) and salami (37.20 vs 33.47 in HB and 29.62 in GB; P≤0.01). The content in saturated, monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) FA (% on total FA) of bresaola showed differences between animals (45.24, 42.51 and 10.79 in AC; 41.73, 23.33 and 34.80 in GB; 45.20, 32.32 and 21.72 in HB; P≤0.001), in accordance with the different fat content and the proportions of FA which, as is known, vary with the age of the animal and its diet. In bresaola, oleic acid (% on total FA) was equal to 32.25 in AC, 23.70 in HB and 15.45 in GB, (P≤0.01), due to the different distribution and location of MUFA and PUFA in animal tissues. In salami, the differences between the animals were minor, although significant, probably due to the lower lipid contribution of meat compared to the lard added. The evaluation of the sensory analysis of ripened salami showed a better overall acceptability for AC, with higher scores for color uniformity, fat/lean connection, flavor intensity and chewiness. A good general acceptability emerged also for bresaola, even if those of AC were less appreciated for chewiness and tenderness. ST bresaola showed higher colorimetric parameters, higher fat and MUFA percentages, while those obtained from grazing animals (AC and GB) showed higher shear force at Warner-Bratzler test. In both products the volatile organic compounds were higher in AC than in GB and HB which had a similar content. From multivariate statistical approaches, a good discrimination was obtained among animal categories for both bresaola and salami. The results evidenced the possibility to obtain bresaola and salami with appreciable sensory properties for consumers from different animal categories and muscle cuts, thus to improve the economic performance of autochthonous cattle.