Characterization of the lipid fraction of some Galician (NW of Spain) traditional meat products

Abstract

The lipid fraction of five Galician (NW of Spain) traditional raw-cured meat products (chorizo rosario, chorizo de cebolla, androlla, botillo and lacón) was characterized by determining in 10 units of the final product of each variery the degree of acidity and the indexes of peroxides, iodine, saponification and TBA. The average values obtained for the degree of acidity of the five products studied varied between 2.31 % and 3.94 % of oleic acid obtained in androlla and lacón, respectively, which shows that all these products undergo a moderate lipolysis. However, the results obtained for the peroxide and TBA indexes, expressed in meq of O₂/Kg of fat and mg of malonaldehide/Kg of product, respectively, in chorizo rosario (14.74 and 0.46), chorizo de cebolla (14.12 and 1.75), androlla (12.98 and 1.07), botillo (11.24 and 0.73) and lacón (30.50 and 6.99) show the existence of very intense autooxidative phenomena throughout ripening. All the products showed similar values for the iodine index, about 70 % of iodine absorbed. The average values of saponification index expressed in mg KOH/g of fat determined in chorizo rosario and chorizo de cebolla, 171.42 and 172.80, respectively, were significantly lower than those found in lacón (177.92), androlla (178.31) and botillo (180.43).