Abstract
The use of warthog meat to produce cabanossi (cured, smoked and semi-dried sausages) with different fat levels (10%, 20% and 30% by weight) were investigated. Weight loss during drying and smoking significantly increased as fat level decreased. Despite this, in the end products, the 10% pork backfat cabanossi had a slightly higher moisture content compared to the 30% treatment due to its higher initial moisture content. However, this did not result in any differences (P > 0.05) in water activity between all treatments. Water activity was sufficiently low (≤0.94) to ensure shelf stability coupled to pH lower than 5.2. The 10% fat warthog cabanossi showed a better nutritional composition in terms of higher protein, lower fat content, higher amounts of n-3 fatty acids, lower n-6:n-3 ratio and lower thrombogenic index among the three treatments while there was no difference in lipid oxidation. The 10% pork backfat treatment was scored higher (P ≤ 0.01) for overall aroma intensity and smoky aroma, followed by the 20% and 30% treatments, respectively and generally scored better for most sensory attributes.