Chemical, physicochemical properties and microbiological characterization of a typical product, Pitina, made by Alpagota sheep meat

The microbiological and physicochemical properties of a typical fermented meat product called Pitina, prepared using ground sheep meat mixed with a variable proportion of pork lard, were studied in order to firstly assess them and to evaluate the effect of two levels of lard pork content (10% vs. 30%, weight basis) and of two ripening conditions adopted by producers (traditional vs. modified atmosphere) on the quality of final products. Both, the level of lard and the ripening condition influenced the physicochemical values and then the chemical characteristics of the ripened product. Instead, the microbiological profile seemed not to be strongly affected by the studied conditions and all batches examined showed high count of enterobacteria, coliforms and gram negative bacteria at the end of the sixty-day maturation period.