Evaluation of the Effect of Tiger Nut Fibre as a Carrier of Unsaturated Fatty Acids Rich Oil on the Quality of Dry-Cured Sausages

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of tiger nut fibre (TNF) as a carrier of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) rich oil on some quality parameters in a dry-cured sausage. Nine formulations of Longaniza de Pascua, a traditional Spanish dry-cured fermented sausage, were manufactured under normal industrial conditions but incorporating different combinations of TNF (1-2%) as a source of fibre and walnut oil (WO; 2.5-5%) as a source of UFA. The addition of TNF improved WO incorporation into the meat batter: the higher the amount of TNF added, the more WO incorporated. Sausages with TNF + WO had a higher moisture content than the control (hence lower weight loss), lower pH values, higher water activity, similar L* values and higher a* and b* values than the control. The only microorganisms that were affected by the formula were mould and yeasts, but in all cases the counts at the end of ripening were comparable to the results of the most studies on fermented sausages. The increase in lipid oxidation in sausages due to the addition of WO was controlled by the TNF, probably due to the antioxidant compounds (phenolics) it contains. The samples with 1% TNF + 2.5% WO and 2% TNF + 5% WO scored the same in terms of overall liking as the control.