8th International Symposium on the Mediterranean Pig, Slovenia, Ljubljana, October 10th−12th, 2013. Acta argiculturae Slovenica, Supplement 4, 159–162, Ljubljana 2013 COBISS: 1.08 Agris category code: L01, Q01 EFFECT OF TWO DIFFERENT REARING SYSTEMS ON QUALITY OF DRY CURED “COPPA” OF NERO SICILIANO PIG Ambra DI ROSA 1, Alessandro ZUMBO 1, Maria Elena FURFARO 2, Giuseppe CARCIONE 1, Giuseppe D’ANGELO 2, Vincenzo CHIOFALO 1, 2 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Polo Universitario dell’Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy, e-mail: dirosaa@unime.it 2 Consorzio di Ricerca Filiera Carni, Polo Universitario dell’Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy AbStrAct The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the indoors (IN) vs. outdoors (OUT) rearing system on quality traits of dry cured coppa from Nero Siciliano pig. Physico-chemical parameters, fatty acid profile and α- and γ-tocopherol were investigated. The IN group showed a higher level of fat compared to the OUT group (42.45% vs. 37.85%; P = 0.005). Significant differences were found for salt content (IN: 4.70% vs. OUT: 5.44%; P < 0.0001), Lightness (L*) and yellow index (b*) were higher in the IN than OUT group (L*: 60.24 vs. 56.44, P = 0.023; b*: 6.89 vs. 5.32; P = 0.002). No signifi- cant differences were observed for fatty acids profile and for α- and γ-tocopherol. As dry cured coppa from both groups showed a similar quality level, to guarantee the availability of this product all through the year, the indoor rearing system based on commercial feed could replace the traditional outdoor system, when natural resources are limited. Key words: Nero Siciliano pig/ rearing system/ dry cured coppa/ technological quality/ fatty acid profile 1 INtrODUctION Dry cured »coppa« is a traditional Italian product made of deboned muscles of the entire neck, cured and matured in natural casings. As it is known that quality of seasoned products depends, among others, on genetic type and rearing system (Zullo et al., 2007), qualitative traits of dry cured »coppa« from Nero Siciliano pigs fat- tened indoors and outdoors were investigated. Nero Sicili- ano pig is an autochthonous genetic type reared in Sic- ily in the Nebrodi area characterized by high roughness and strength (Pugliese et al., 2004; Zumbo et al., 2012; Di Rosa et al., 2012). Its survival depends on both the possibility of obtaining quality meat products and its ad- aptation to the harsh environment (Chiofalo et al., 2007). The traditional link between the breed and its typical products may represent an important tool to increase the value of its farming (Moretti et al., 2004) together with new strategies to increase the number of pigs in order to guarantee the availability of dry cured products all through the year. A possible strategy could be an indoor rearing system based on commercial feed to replace the traditional outdoor system when natural resources are limited. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ef- fect of the rearing system on physico-chemical charac- teristics, fatty acid profile and α- and γ-tocopherol of dry cured »coppa« from Nero Siciliano pigs fattened indoors on commercial feed and outdoors on acorn and grass. 2 MAtErIAL AND MEtHODS This study was carried out on 40 Nero Siciliano pigs (20 males and 20 females). During the fattening period animals were divided into two dietary groups. The indoor group (IN) was reared in confinement and fed commer- cial feed while the outdoor group (OUT) was raised un- der the traditional free-range system and fed acorn and grass. At the end of the finishing period (60 days), pigs were slaughtered at a live weight of 117.2 kg (±15.7) and Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 4 – 2013160 A. DI ROSA et al. 104.5 kg (±12.6) for the IN and the OUT group respec- tively. Neck muscles were trimmed, subcutaneous fat re- moved and stored 12 h at a temperature of 0–2 °C. »Cop- pa« were rolled manually in a tank with salt and additives at a temperature of 3–5 °C. The pieces were tumbled at two day intervals for three times and, six days later, the cuts were salted again and tumbling was repeated a fifth and a sixth time at two day intervals. After 12 days, each piece was hung for 24 hours and then stuffed in natural casings (bovine bladder). Salting was followed by a dry- ing period at 19 °C and 60% RH for the first 8 h with a temperature and relative humidity decreasing every 24 h at a rate of 1.5 °C and 2% respectively. Maturing took place at 13–15 °C and RH of 70–75% for 90 days. Samples for laboratory analyses were taken from cross-sections of each product avoiding heads and tails for about 5 cm. A portion of about 150 g of each sample were ground using a commercial grinder and the chemi- cal composition (moisture, protein, fat and salt content) was determined according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (reference 2007.04) by Near Infra- red Transmittance Spectroscopy (FoodScan™ Meat Ana- lyser; FOSS, Italy). The determination of pH was carried out by homogenization with distilled water (1/10 weight/ volume). Colour parameters were measured on two whole slices taken from the middle part of each sample, using a spectrometer (Spectral scanner, DV Tecnologie d’Avanguardia, Padova, Italy). The CIE system colour profile for lightness (L*), red (a*), and yellow index (b*) was applied. Fatty acid composition was determined on the lean portion of each sample and lipid extraction was per- formed according to Folch et al. (1957). Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from obtained lipids were prepared by trans-esterification according to Christie (1993). FAME were analyzed by gas chromatography, using an Agilent Technologies 6890N gas chromatograph, equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) and a fused silica capil- lary column (30 m × 0.25 mm I.D, 0.25 μm film thickness, Omegawax 250; Supelco Bellefonte; PA, USA). Individu- al compounds were identified by comparing their reten- tion times with those of standards (Supelco, Bellefonte; PA, USA). The quantification of α- and γ-tocopherol was accomplished according to Liu et al. (1996) by reverse phase HPLC (Shimadzu LC-10 AT). Tocopherols were quantified using the external standard method. Data were submitted to analysis of variance by the two-way ANOVA procedure (SAS, 2001) with rearing system and gender as independent variables; no sig- nificant differences for sex and interactions were found (P > 0.05) and therefore the model was reduced to main effect only (rearing system). The Scheffé’s test (P ≤ 0.05) was used for the evaluation of significant differences be- tween means. 3 rESULtS AND DIScUSSION Physico-chemical composition of dry cured »cop- pa« is reported in Table 1. Significant differences were found for fat and salt content. The IN group showed a higher level of fat compared to the OUT group (42.45% vs. 37.85%; P = 0.005) and as consequence, a lower level of salt probably because the fat had a retarding ef- fect on diffusing during seasoning period (Vestergaard et al., 2005). Significant differences were found for L* (P = 0.023) and b* (P = 0.002); high- er in the IN group according to the higher fat content (Carballo et al., 1996); in fact, a low-fat product is darker and redder than a high-fat product (Jiménez-Colmenero et al., 2012). Except for the C16:1 percent- age that was higher in the »coppa« of outdoor pigs, no significant differ- ences were observed for fatty acids profile (Table 2) between the IN and OUT group even though dry cured »coppa« from Indoor system showed a slight lower content of PUFA, C18:2 n-6, C18:3 n-3 if compared to Outdoor system. The α-tocopherol concentra- tion was higher in the OUT group, Rearing system IN   OUT   Chemical Composition mean sd mean sd P-value pH 5.87 0.10 5.71 0.09 < 0.0001 Moisturea 28.94 2.54 30.38 2.22 ns Proteina 23.64 1.38 25.25 1.00 0.0006 Fata 42.45 4.66 37.85 4.22 0.005 Salta 4.70 0.30 5.44 0.40 < 0.0001 Seasoned Indexb 1.22 0.04 1.20 0.03 ns Colour Parameters L* 60.24 3.73 56.44 5.29 0.023 a* 13.06 1.15 12.42 0.86 ns b* 6.89 1.22 5.32 1.47 0.002 Table 1: Chemical composition and colour parameters of dry cured »coppa« a Values are means expressed as percentage; b Seasoned Index = Moisture/Protein Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 4 – 2013 161 EFFECT OF TWO DIFFERENT REARING SYSTEMS ON QUALITY OF DRY CURED “COPPA” OF NERO SICILIANO PIG while the γ-tocopherol content was lower in the OUT group despite its higher level in acorn (46.33 mg/kg) compared to commercial feed (0.75 mg/kg). According to recent findings (Pugliese et al., 2009; Daza et al., 2005), γ-tocopherol concentration in dry cured »coppa« seems to be related more to γ-tocopherol metabolism than the diet. In fact γ-tocopherol is metabolized largely to 2,7,8-trimethyl-2-(β-carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychroman (γ-CEHC), which is mainly excreted in the urine. Catab- olism of α-tocopherol appears to be quantitatively much less important than that of γ-tocopherol because urinary excretion of α-CEHC is lower than that of γ-CEHC. Both γ-tocopherol and γ-CEHC, but not α-tocopherol, inhibit cyclooxygenase activity and, thus, possess anti-inflam- matory properties (Jiang et al., 2001). Therefore, both a faster γ-tocopherol catabolism and a higher stress due to the outdoor system could explain the lower content of γ-tocopherol in dry cured »coppa« from the OUT group. Nutritional values (Table 1) of dry cured »coppa« from Nero Siciliano pig are very simi- lar to those reported from different authors (Novelli et al., 1992; Schiva- zappa et al., 1997; Zanardi et al., 2000; La Pietra et al., 1998; Cengarle et al., 2001). Slight differences can be re- lated to the anatomical structure of »coppa«, i.e. to the presence of vari- ous muscles separated by deposits of intermuscular fat (Novelli et al., 1992; Schivazappa et al., 1997), to the dif- ferent seasoning period and to the technology production. IN and OUT groups showed a lower moisture and salt content if compared with dry cured »coppa« from northern Italy (Zanardi et al., 2000), Campania (La Pietra et al., 1998), Sardegna and Corsica (Cengarle et al., 2001), with a Seasoned Index of 1.22 and 1.20 re- spectively. Furthermore, both groups showed a higher level of fat probably due to the breed-dependant ability to synthesize and accumulate large amount of lipids in their tissues (Ven- tanas et al., 2008). In conclusion, even though dry cured »coppa« from Nero Siciliano reared outdoors showed bet- ter nutritional traits, both groups are characterized by a physico-chemical profile similar to other Italian dry cured »coppa«. Based on these preliminary re- sults, it could be argued that, as in Spanish system (Mon- tanera, Recebo, Cebo), when natural resources are lim- ited or not available, Nero Siciliano pigs could be reared indoors on commercial feed to produce a different label product (according to the feeding background), in order to satisfy the commercial demand of dry cured »coppa« all through the year. 4 AcKNOWLEDGMENt Results presented in this paper are part of the sci- entific project “Characterization and traceability of meat and meat products from Nero Siciliano pig subjected to different feeding systems” investigations. The project (2008LYNTAF_003) has been financed by the Ministry of University and Scientific Research, Italy (Prof. Vin- cenzo Chiofalo). Rearing system IN   OUT Fatty acids* mean sd mean sd P-value C14:0 1.20 0.11 1.15 0.08 ns C16:0 22.63 1.34 22.45 0.67 ns C16:1 2.39 0.31 2.12 0.18 0.047 C18:0 12.81 0.44 13.06 0.62 ns C18:1 48.98 1.34 48.01 2.05 ns C18:2 n-6 9.23 1.47 10.13 1.34 ns C18:3 n-3 0.46 0.17 0.52 0.09 ns C20:0 0.20 0.01 0.20 0.01 ns C20:1 1.31 0.16 1.42 0.18 ns C20:2 n-6 0.53 0.09 0.60 0.07 ns C20:4 n-6 0.26 0.10 0.35 0.10 ns SFAa 36.85 1.49 36.86 1.13 ns MUFAb 52.68 1.47 51.54 2.29 ns PUFAc 10.48 1.75 11.60 1.53 ns PUFA/SFA 0.29 0.05 0.31 0.04 ns n-6/n-3 23.11 3.92 21.61 2.74 ns Atherogenic Index 0.44 0.04 0.43 0.02 ns Thrombogenic Index 1.12 0.08 1.11 0.05 ns Tocopherols† α –tocopherol 2.13 0.23 2.38 0.41 ns γ-tocopherol 0.18 0.04 0.12 0.05 ns Table 2: Fatty acids and tocopherols content of dry cured »coppa« * Values are means expressed as percentage of total fatty acid methylesters; a SFA, total amount of saturated fatty acids; b MUFA, total amount of monounsaturated fatty acids; c PUFA, total amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids; † Expressed as mg kg−1 Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 4 – 2013162 A. 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