Characterisation of a lard cured with spices and aromatic herbs

The study considered the proximate composition, pH, free acidity, MDA and peroxide values of a cured and ripened lard covered with spices and aromatic herbs, these latter parameters, due to lipolytic endoenzymatic phenomena, tended to increase until the end of the salting period. Throughout the production phases the bacterial load was very low. The final vacuum-packed product had a shelf-life of about 90 days and its fatty acid and cholesterol composition was typical of lard. A GC/MS study of the spices/herbs in the lard highlighted which components came from the spices/aromatic herbs and which came from phenomena due to lipolytic endoenzymatic processes.