Search

In Europe Mediterranean, Italy particularly, there is a long tradition of cured products made from pork meat. The products obtained from meat of native pigs and described as typical are often linked to ancient local traditions and the technical processing / preparation used can influence the final properties. During the survey, some of the techniques employed in the preparation of traditional salumi made from meat of Nero Siciliano and Sarda breed were analyzed. The preparation of salami and sausages was conducted at some artisan laboratories located in the traditional area of Sicily (Nebrodi mountains) and Sardinia, according to techniques in use in rural traditions. The mixtures were prepared manually and the temperature and humidity were influenced by seasonal variability and the locality of seasoning. The conservation of the peculiarities of the salami and sausages has required the identification and quantification of those properties that better describe the characteristics of these products: the characteristics of the formulations, the type of process, the chemical and microbiological characteristics and the local traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roasted piglet (Porcheddu) is one of the most appreciated traditional Sardinian dishes obtained from suckling animals slaughtered at 8-12 kg of body weight (BW). The traditional cooking method is timeconsuming; this dish is eaten only when there is enough time for its preparation (cooking time of about 2 h). The Porcheddu is appreciated by both local and foreign consumers and there is also an increasing interest, for this traditional dish, by extra regional consumers and markets. Actually, since the occurrence of African swine fever (ASF), the trade of pigs and pig meat products is not permitted from Sardinia. The Council Directive 2002/99/EC provided a derogation for states member to authorize the production, processing and distribution of products of animal origin when a Heat treatment at a minimum temperature of 80°C, which must be reached throughout the meat is applied. The overall framework of this study was to evaluate an innovative process to obtain a traditional dish the Porcheddu suitable to achieve extra-regional markets and meet the demand of modern consumers and to assess the effect of carcass weight on the processing yield of suckling piglets, thermally treated, to obtain a ready-to-eat roast dish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on hospital discharges in 1001-2010, we calculated risk of tumours with an elevated occupational and environmental etiological fraction by health district of residence within the Local Health Unit (LHU) N. 8 of Sardinia. With reference to the age and gender-specific hospitalization rates of the whole LHU, residents in the urban Cagliari health district showed an excess risk of haemolymphopoietic cancer (RR = 1.07; 95%CI 1.03-1.12) and bladder cancer (RR = 1.10; 95%CI 1.05-1.16); in both instances, risks were higher among female residents. The highest excess risk for lung cancer was observed among residents in the Quartu-Parteolla health district (RR = 1.13; 95%CI 1.05-1.21), and it was slightly higher among male residents. The results appear to confirm the role of urban factors in increasing cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An investigation on the microflora of home-made Sardinian sausage was carried out. Two batches of sausages produced according to traditional methods by two artisanal producers were analysed during ripening. A total of 91 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and 60 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were isolated and identified by species-specific PCR or 16s rDNA sequencing. the lactic microflora was mainly constituted by Lactobacillus sakei (80% of isolates) and Lactobacillus curvatus (15% of isolates), Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus reuteri were also found. Among cNs, Staphylococcus xylosus was the main species isolated. The incidence of Enterobacteriaceae can be considered safe. The pH values were relatively high in both batches. This investigation indicates that home-made Sardinian sausages can be classified as a typical Mediterranean-type of dry, naturally-fermented sausages, characterised by a low acidification rate and high final pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roasted suckling pig is a traditional dish widely consumed all over the island of Sardinia and very appreciated by the tourists. Unfortunately, because of the resurgence of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Sardinia, the export of fresh pork meat and/or derived products has been banned. In the implementing act of the extraordinary eradication program of the ASF 2015-2017, issued by the Regional Government, some precautions needed to obtain the permission to export pork meat products are stated. One of these consists in applying a precooking heat treatment to the meat until reaching the temperature of 80°C in the whole mass. Exporting pork meat represents an important economic opportunity for the Sardinian operators of the sector that have shown great interest in testing the effectiveness and applicability of the heat treatment to guarantee the safety and quality of their products. The aim of this study was to assess, throughout the whole expected shelf-life at 4°C, samples of vacuum packed meat, monthly, from 0 to 150 days from the heat treatment. Therefore, five sides of piglet per sampling point were analysed, from a microbiological (counts of pathogens and spoilage bacteria), and chemical (lipid peroxidation) point of view, before cooking completion. After 40' in the oven at 210°C, sensory analysis (acceptance test) was performed to examine consumer liking. The results allow concluding that despite a microbial postprocess contamination, quality and sensory acceptance of the product was not affected until 150 days of shelf-life. A post-lethality treatment should be assumed to reduce microbial contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Vermilion darkening process studied with a phase transformation. • Transient absorption spectroscopy applied to pigments degradation. • Cinnabar degradation is accelerated in presence of chlorine ions. The application of no destructive techniques in the field of Cultural Heritage is becoming fundamental to understanding degradation phenomena. In this study, Transient Absorption (TA) spectroscopy was exploited to explain the process which causes the darkening of Red Vermilion, a famous pigment known also as cinnabar. The optical properties involved in the process are studied in pure HgS and chlorine doped HgS samples, before and after exposure to UV light (365 nm). The study was carried out with particular attention on the ground state bleaching signals, directly connected to the formation of intra-gap trap levels responsible for the pigment degradation. First derivative reflectance spectra reveal the presence of these defectivities, while the analysis of Tauc plots from Kubelka Munk function confirms the reduction of energy band gap due to UV exposure. With the help of Density Functional calculations, we simulated the role of S vacancies in producing a defective alpha-phase, the consequent reduction of the energy band gap and, finally, the progressive phase transformation to the cubic metacinnabar. Transient Absorption turns out to be an important tool of diagnosis about the conservation state of pigments applied in the field of Cultural Heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oxidation of L-arginine, monomethyl L-arginine and asymmetric dimethyl arginine catalyzed by copper/TPQ-amine oxidases from lentil (Lens esculenta) seedlings and pig kidney was investigated by optical spectroscopy and HPLC analyses. L-Arginine and its methylated derivatives were shown to be poor substrates for both enzymes and were oxidized by an unusual mechanism yielding glutamate-5-semialdehyde, ammonia, urea and their derivatives as reaction products. These findings suggest that amine oxidases might represent an alternative metabolic pathway of the arginine and its methylated derivatives, yielding new metabolites like urea, methylurea and dimethylurea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the hypothesis that maternal-fetal genetic differences in membrane transport and signal transduction may influence intrauterine development, the recent acquisition on transport function of Rh protein prompted us to study the relationship between joint maternal-fetal Rh phenotype and birth weight. Considering that metabolic effect of maternal-fetal competition could be amplified by environmental conditions, we have investigated possible seasonal effects on such relationship.We have studied 5291 infants born in Sardinia in the period January 1993--December 1996 and 984 infants born in Rome during 1996.In Rh(Recent observations by our group in NIDDM suggest that glucose transport in RBC may be related to D protein, thus we propose an interpretation of the present observation in terms of transport function. When the density of D protein in the infant is greater than in the mother, the balance is in favour of the infant who may attain a significant developmental advantage when conceived in the cold season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]