Chemical, physical and sensory attributes for the characterization of an Italian dry-cured sausage

This work was designed to characterize Felino salami, an Italian dry-cured sausage. For this purpose, a wide range of chemical, physical and sensory parameters were studied in 29 samples. Seven chemical and physical variables were selected by using principal components analysis: namely, pH, NaCl/moisture, moisture/protein, soluble N/protein, lactic acid, elasticity index and sample luminosity (L(∗)). The first two principal components were significant according to double-cross validation and accounted for 79% of variance. The seven-variable chemometric model shows that variability in the first principal component is determined by variables expressing the acidity and the extent of lactic fermentation, while the second component is determined by variables expressing the degree of ripening and is related to the sensory scores maturation and hardness, and to salami age (p < 0.001). Sensory scores were evaluated by a multivariate method to verify the consonance among assessors as to the different attributes. The semi-trained panel was consonant and reliable for five of the nine sensory attributes evaluated. The predictive ability of the chemometric model for the sensory attributes was assessed with cross-validation.