Tuesday, July 09, 2024

A reduction in Iberian pork preservatives is achieved thanks to a yeast

UNIVERSITY OF CÓRDOBA

In the face of European regulations mandating salt and nitrite reductions in food, a team from the University of Cordoba has tested the potential of a yeast as a natural preservative in Iberian pork loin from the Pedroches Valley

The excessive consumption of nitrites is linked to negative health effects. Hence, a new European regulation limits their amounts in different foods. One of them is Iberian pork loin, which has traditionally used nitrites and salt as preservatives. By reducing these elements, will it be possible to continue enjoying this product's properties? Yes, there is an alternative and it is in the pork loin itself.

A decade ago, a team in the University of Cordoba's Microbiology Area, led by Professor José Ramos, isolated a collection of yeasts that developed inside the loin during its maturation process. They found that these microorganisms impacted the characteristics of the final product. Now, one of the strains of that yeast family, Debaryomyces hansenii LRC2, stands as an alternative to maintain the properties of Iberian pork loin through nitrite and salt reduction. "We have seen that, through the application of this yeast, we can prevent other unwanted microbes from appearing," explained José Ramos, confirming that this yeast results in enhanced food safety for the pork loin, and longer shelf lives.

This strain's potential was evaluated in the laboratory by means of a volatile compound inhibition assay. These volatile compounds are responsible for the pork loin's aroma, but they are also capable of inhibiting fungi that can harm the product. "In that phase we tested the yeast with a fungus, face to face, without them touching, and the fungus grew less. We saw that, without touching it, the inhibition of the fungus occurred, " explained the first author of the work, Helena Chacón.

This protection of the yeast was verified in the final product, which was then inoculated with a battery of Iberian pork loins from the Navalpedroche company, located in the Valle de los Pedroches, a valley recognized for the quality of its meat products. "In this process, as it is industrial work, the ISO standards for food quality and microbiology were observed," noted researcher Francisco J. Ruiz.

According to the researcher, "using this yeast, in particular, allowed us to lower the levels of nitrite and salt, and maintain food safety and the characteristics of the Iberian pork loin. At the flavor level, however, we did not fully meet the market's needs. "

It is true that the crux of the matter is the product's taste. Although the specialized panelists and regular consumers who tried the Iberian pork loin with fewer preservatives and inoculated with the yeast reported that "it was good," the scores they gave it were lower.

Thus, having managed to preserve the pork loin's characteristics, and increased its shelf life, as well as having adapted it to European standards by lowering its nitrites and salt, the pending task is to improve the taste. To do this, the team is working with other complementary strains to maintain 100% of the Iberian pork loin's flavor.

This work was carried out by a multidisciplinary team with staff from the departments of Agricultural Chemistry, Edaphology and Microbiology; Bromatology, Analytical and Statistical Chemistry, Econometrics, Operations Research, Business Organization and Applied Economics.

JOURNAL

Food Control

DOI

10.1016/j.foodcont.2024.110632

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The antimycotic potential of Debaryomyces hanseniiLRC2 on Iberian Pork Loins with low concentration preservatives.

Pigs are social but only dogs are attached

Dogs, but not pigs, exhibited the specific behavior pattern typical of the attachment bond

EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY

Researchers at the ELTE Department of Ethology in Budapest investigated whether an infant-mother analog attachment bond arises in intensively human-socialized companion pigs towards their owners similar to companion dogs. Using the so-called “Strange Situation Test,” they compared the behaviors of young companion pigs and dogs towards their owner and a stranger. They found that dogs, but not pigs, exhibited the specific behavior pattern typical of the attachment bond. These findings suggest that the domestication process and intense early exposure to humans alone are not sufficient to trigger human-analog attachment in companion animals. In the case of dogs, the unique selection for cooperation with and dependency on humans might be the key feature for the emergence of attachment to the caregiver.

Companion dogs' bond with their owners has long been described as special and unique. Indeed, from an ethological point of view, dogs’ bond with their owners can be defined as “attachment”, which is similar in function to that of a human mother with her infants.

In an attachment bond, the attached individual depends on the security-providing attachment figure.

Attachment has some well defined criteria: the attached individual should use the caregiver as a secure base when exploring a new environment, and as a “safe haven” in case of danger, and display specific behaviors upon reunion with the caregiver after separation.

“Besides dogs, there are only a few studies assessing if the behaviors of other companion animals fulfil the criteria of attachment,” explains Anna Gábor from the Neuroethology of Communication Lab at the ELTE Department of Ethology, first author of the study. “Therefore, whether human-analog attachment can arise in other domestic animals experiencing an intense socialization with humans, or, on the contrary, is facilitated by the artificial and unique selection for dependence to and cooperation with humans that dogs underwent during their domestication was still a question to answer.”

VIDEOABSTRACT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQbNJeUAOA

To address this question, the researchers compared the behaviors of young companion dogs with those of young companion pigs. “Like dogs, pigs are also group-living and extremely social animals, and when kept as companions, they have a similar role in human families to that of dogs” says Paula Pérez Fraga from the Neuroethology of Communication Lab at the ELTE Department of Ethology and co-first author of the study. “This is why they are a good model species for direct comparisons with companion dogs.”

The researchers tested the animals using the so-called “Strange Situation Test,” a validated behavioral test to assess attachment behaviour. This test's basic feature is to expose the animal to separations from their owner and encounters with a stranger. The premise is that if attachment behaviors emerge, there will be a clear distinct behavioral pattern toward the owner compared to the stranger in the relevant situations. The research team found that the “attachment behavioral pattern” towards the owner was present only in dogs, but not in pigs.

“This finding suggests that the domestication process and intense human socialization alone are not enough to trigger human-analog attachment behaviour to the human caregiver in animals,” explains Gábor.

“We argue that dogs were selected for dependency on and for working in intense cooperation with humans, which is a unique characteristic of dog domestication.”

This study was published on in Scientific Reports titled “Domestication and exposure to human social stimuli are not sufficient to trigger attachment to humans: a companion pig-dog comparative study”, written by Anna Gábor, Paula Pérez Fraga, Márta Gácsi, Linda Gerencsér and Attila Andics. This project was funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Lendület Program), the Eötvos Loránd Research Network, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and by Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE).

These findings suggest that the domestication process and intense early exposure to humans alone are not sufficient to trigger human-analog attachment in companion animals. In the case of dogs, the unique selection for cooperation with and dependency on humans might be the key feature for the emergence of attachment to the caregiver.

CREDIT

Photo: Sabela Fonseca