Usefulness of calcium lactate, citrate and gluconate for calcium enrichment of dry fermented sausages

Food manufacturers are interested in new ways to improve the nutritional value of their meat products. In this study, calcium lactate, gluconate and citrate have been added to dry fermented sausages in an attempt to determine whether they are useful for enriching these meat products with calcium. The sausages were manufactured with different amounts of pork backfat (6, 15, and 30%) and the salts were added in sufficient amounts to 100 g of sausage to give 20% and 30% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of calcium established by the Institute of Medicine of the USA (1000 mg/day). The lower concentration of whichever calcium salt (20% of RDA), was the most sensorially adequate. With this amount these sausages can be considered a “source of calcium”. In addition, we found that the lower backfat percentage (6%) compromises the acceptability of the product.