Incorporating Olive By-Products in Bísaro Pig Diets: Effect on Dry-Cured Product Quality

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of incorporating olive cake into the diet of indigenous Bísaro pigs on the quality of processed meat products. To this end, loins and “cachaços” were processed using a standardized manufacturing flowchart to produce dry-cured products. The two products were manufactured using the same formulation, ingredients, and curing process. Concerning the physicochemical composition, there were significant differences between the two products for the parameters of aw (p < 0.001), moisture (p < 0.001), total fat (p < 0.001), protein (p < 0.001), and haem pigments (p < 0.001). The diet significantly impacted the NaCl content (p < 0.05). However, neither the product nor the diet affected the fractions of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (p > 0.05). However, a significant difference was observed for n-3 (p < 0.05). Adding olive cake increased these fatty acids, and the diet containing 25% centrifuged olive cake showed the highest levels for both products. Compared with the control, the diets containing olive cake had a higher content of n-3 fatty acids, resulting in a lower PUFA n-6/n-3 ratio (p < 0.01).