*3.1. Physicochemical Attributes*

Results for the physicochemical analyses are presented in Table 3. There were no significant differences in weight loss during drying between treatments while moisture loss was higher (*p* ≤ 0.05) for the PF treatment compared to the SF treatment. Moisture content was higher (*p* ≤ 0.01) in the raw batter of the PF treatment compared to the SF treatment. This phenomenon may be explained by the fact that there were differences (*p* ≤ 0.01) in the chemically analysed fat content of the two treatments' raw batter. Although similar amounts of fat were added during the mixing of batter, the sheep fat raw batter had more analysed fat compared to the pork fat treatment (*p* ≤ 0.01). The suggestion would be that sheep subcutaneous and tail adipose tissue used in this study had more lipids and thus less moisture per unit of weight compared to that of pork. This could be attributed to de novo synthesis of lipids and fatty acids in sheep adipose tissue. Ruminant diets have a low fat content and hence most of their lipids and fatty acids are synthesised de novo in adipose tissue [22,49]. As a result, cabanossi end products showed a similar moisture content (*p* > 0.05). The lower moisture loss percentage of SF cabanossi could be related to saturation of sheep fat [50] or the fact that the fat content of PF raw batter was lower than that of the SF raw batter. Fat reduces water losses during drying of meat products by forming an oily coating around meat particles henceforth acting as "insulation" [36], which consequently limits the diffusion of moisture from the inside-out of the sausage [37,50].


**Table 3.** Physicochemical attributes and lipid oxidation of raw batter and cabanossi made with either pork backfat (PF) or sheep tail/backfat (SF).

All data expressed as mean ± SE (n = 12).

Moisture content was within the range (39–50.7%) reported for commercial cabanossi [37,51], but lower than that reported by other authors for warthog and pork cabanossi (59% and 54%, respectively) [33]. Results from this study were also comparable to those reported in our companion paper (45.6%) [36] for warthog cabanossi produced with 20% PF, a similar amount as that used in the current investigation. Cabanossi were dried under temperatures that are not lethal to microorganisms, thus, like other meat products falling into this category, it should rely on the collective e ffects of safety hurdles of reduced water activity, pH and curing salts to prevent microbial spoilage [52,53]. These hurdles must be achieved in the order of: water activity <0.91 or pH < 4.5 or a combination of water activity <0.95 and pH < 5.2 [54]. These hurdles were achieved. Water activity was reduced in the final products but did not di ffer (*p* > 0.05) between treatments. Apart from the water activity we reported previously [36], which is comparable to the current study, no other literature was found reporting the water activity of cabanossi. This could be due to limited studies on cabanossi reported in the English language since this is originally a Polish product. Regarding pH, no di fferences were observed for raw batter and the finished product between treatments. Nevertheless, pH declined significantly (*p* ≤ 0.001) after smoking and drying. The pH values obtained in this study are slightly higher than those observed for fermented sausages [55,56] where it is reported to fall below 5.0. This is expected because cabanossi is not fermented, i.e., no starter culture and/or sugars are added. In fermented sausages, pH declines as a function of increasing organic acids produced by predominantly lactic acid bacteria population growth from the starter cultures [57,58]. The pH of fermented meat sausages is expected to decline during drying and this allows it to reduce the rate of microbial spoilage [58]. Although not measured, the pH decline observed in this study could be attributed to the organic acid compounds of smoke onto the product during smoking [54].

Ash content in PF cabanossi was higher than in SF cabanossi while they were similar in the raw batter, which could be attributed to higher weight loss (although not significant) and moisture loss (*p* ≤ 0.01). Additionally, the higher levels of total ash of the cabanossi end products (when compared to raw meat) are expected because the addition of salt and spices to raw batter increases the ash content [59]. Protein content was higher (*p* ≤ 0.05) in PF cabanossi than sheep cabanossi as it was in the raw batter (*p* ≤ 0.05). This is due to the fat:protein ratio being lower in low fat sausages as opposed to high fat sausages as previously reported [60].

#### *3.2. Fatty Acid Composition*

Table 4 shows results for the fatty acid composition of PF and SF cabanossi. The two most abundant SFA in the cabanossi products were palmitic acid (~22%) and stearic acid (~14%) and these fatty acids were similar in concentrations for both products. Similarly, the percentage total SFA did not di ffer between treatments. Total MUFA was higher and total PUFA lower in SF cabanossi compared to PF cabanossi (*p* < 0.0001) whereas the PUFA:SFA ratio was lower in the sheep cabanossi (*p* < 0.0001). The PUFA:SFA ratio is an important indicator of the healthiness of meat products and dietary guidelines sugges<sup>t</sup> a ratio of no less than 0.4 [61]. Results from this study revealed that PF cabanossi could be beneficial in this regard. Linoleic acid was the most abundant PUFA in both treatments, though it was higher in PF cabanossi compared to the SF treatment (*p* < 0.0001). The abundance of linoleic acid in the pork backfat treatment is attributed to its occurrence in pork backfat [6,7,62], and warthog meat [40,41] where it is reported to be the most abundant PUFA.

Omega-6 fatty acids were notably higher in the PF cabanossi and there were no di fferences in the n-3 fatty acids between treatments whereas the n-6:n-3 ratio was lower (*p* < 0.0001) in the SF cabanossi. The n-6:n-3 ratio is also thought to be a good indicator of meat healthfulness [2,63]. It is recommended that healthy meat products should exhibit a ratio of less than 4.0 [64], therefore the SF cabanossi (2.65) produced in this study could be beneficial. A high n-6:n-3 ratio is linked to pathogenesis of some illnesses including certain cancers and some inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases while a lower ratio reduces the incidence of these ailments [65,66]. However, with regards to cabanossi, this may be less important because it is mostly consumed from time to time in limited quantities as a snack rather than regularly as food [36]. Other important indicators of the healthfulness of meat are the atherogenic index (AI) and thrombogenic index (TI) of Ulbricht and Southgate [44], which are determined on the basis that di fferent fatty acids metabolise di fferently, either preventing or promoting atherosclerosis and coronary thrombosis [46,67]. Although the AI was similar between the two treatments, the TI was lower in the PF cabanossi (*p* < 0.04). Results from this study present an opportunity to label both warthog cabanossi products as healthier than several other dry-cured beef and pork meat products whose AI and TI range between 0.50–0.67 and 1.09–1.45, respectively [65,67].


**Table 4.** Percentage fatty acid composition of cabanossi made with either pork backfat (PF) or sheep tail/backfat (SF) before and after drying.

\* Fatty acids: individual fatty acids with a percentage composition less than 1 were not displayed on the table but were included in calculation of total SFA, MUFA, PUFA, n-6 and n-3; All data are expressed as mean ± SE (n = 12).
