Fatty acid composition of Visočka pečenica, a traditional dry-cured meat product from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Munevera Begić; Jasna Đjinović – Stojanović; Saša Janković; Zlatan Sarić; Tarik Dizdarević; Selma Čorbo

doi:10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.5

Munevera Begić University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9425-8568
Jasna Đjinović – Stojanović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4602-0835
Saša Janković Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5223-6993
Zlatan Sarić University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3072-8935
Tarik Dizdarević University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Selma Čorbo University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.5

Keywords: Fatty acid composition, traditional meat product, traditional and industrial production

Abstract

Visočka pečenica is a traditional dry-cured beef meat product from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the first meat product in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be protected by a geographical indication, and it is particularly appreciated for its aroma, taste and smoky properties. In this study, the fatty acid composition of 40 Visočka pečenica made in traditional (artisanal) and industrial production systems was examined. The fatty acid composition was determined by gas chromatography. Of the saturated fatty acids, the most abundant were palmitic and stearic acids (respectively, constituting 23.46% and 15.29% of the total fatty acids - traditional; 23.41% and 16.16% - industrial production). From the group of monounsaturated fatty acids, the most abundant was oleic acid, accounting for 45.61% of the total fatty acids in products from traditional production and 42.48% in industrial products. The most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid was linoleic acid, which made up 7.61% of the total fatty acids (traditional production) and 7.41% (industrial production). PCA analysis of fatty acid composition showed that twenty fatty acids were characteristic of Visočka pečenica from industrial production and four fatty acids of products from traditional production.