The use of linseed oil improves nutritional quality of the lipid fraction of dry-fermented sausages

Improvement of the nutritional quality of the lipid fraction of dry-fermented sausages was achieved by a substitution of one quarter of the amount of pork backfat present in traditional formulations by an emulsion in which linseed oil was included. This improvement was particularly noticeable when 100 mg/kg of butylhydroxytoluene and 100 mg/kg of butylhydroxyanisole were added. P/S ratio increased from 0.4 in the control sausages to 0.6 in the batch with 3.3% linseed oil and to 0.7 in the batch with linseed (3.3%) and antioxidants. The n−6/n−3 ratio decreased from 14.1 in control products to 1.7–2.1 in modified products as a consequence of the α-linolenic acid increment. No oxidation problems were detected during the ripening process, with TBA values always lower than 0.23 ppm. Hexanal and nonanal showed the highest values in linseed oil-containing products. Addition of antioxidants avoided the formation of decadienals and other aldehydes from lipid oxidation.