Meat Science 89 (2011) 105–109

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Meat Science
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / m e a t s c i

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in two Spanish traditional smoked sausage

varieties: “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de cebolla”
José M. Lorenzo ⁎, Laura Purriños, Roberto Bermudez, Noemí Cobas, Maria Figueiredo, María C. García Fontán
Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia, Rúa Galicia No 4, Parque Tecnológico de Galicia, San Cibrán das Viñas, 32900 Ourense, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content in two traditional smoked sausages from Spain was
Received 24 June 2010 determined. Results showed, that total average levels of PAHs found were higher in “Chorizo de cebolla”
Received in revised form 11 March 2011 (101.81 vs. 98.48 μgkg− 1). Most contents of PAHs found in both sausages were phenanthrene, naphthalene
Accepted 19 March 2011
and anthracene. The maximum level for benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) of 5 μg kg− 1 in smoked meat products was not
exceeded in any samples. BaP represented a 0.73% and 1.15% with respect to the total sum of the 15 PAHs that
Keywords:
Chorizo gallego
were investigated in this study for “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de cebolla”, respectively. Correlation
Chorizo cebolla statistic analysis (P b 0.01) of the contents from samples analysed, showed that BaP was a good marker for Σ15
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs in “Chorizo gallego” samples (RBaP/Σ15PAHs = 0.77; P b 0.01) and it was a good marker for 7 US EPA
Smoked meat products probably carcinogenic PAHs in “Chorizo de cebolla” samples (RBaP/7EPA = 0.95) and in “Chorizo gallego”
BaP samples (RBaP/7EPA = 0.81).
HPLC/FLD © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The Spanish traditional sausages are, in almost all cases, fermented
sausages that undergo a more or less prolonged process of drying–
ripening before consumption. Chorizo is a Spanish dry-cured sausage
with numerous varieties. Traditional manufacture is non-standardised
and subjectively controlled, with no strict regulation of product
variables such as casing size and type or of process variables such as
temperature, relative humidity, airflow velocities and smoking condi-
tions (Fernández-Fernández, Vázquez-Odériz, & Romero-Rodríguez,
2002; Navarro, Nadal, Izquierdo, & Flores, 1997).
“Chorizo de cebolla”, a variety of Chorizo, is a fermented and dried–
ripened sausage abundantly produced from raw pork in Galicia (NW
of Spain). It is both home and industrially made and is included in the
“Catalogue of cured sausages and hams of Spain” (Anonymous, 1983)
and they have a good appreciation among the consumers and a great
success in the local markets. “Chorizo de cebolla” is manufactured
using as ingredients: raw pork of secondary quality (dewlap, bacon),
onion, pumpkin, paprika and other spices; and then the mix is stuffed
into natural casing in units of approximately 6 cm in diameter and
15 cm in length. Afterward, the resulting sausage is ripened for no
longer than 30 days. The manufacture technology of the “Chorizo de
cebolla” was exhaustively reported in the literature (Salgado, García-
Fontán, Franco, López, & Carballo, 2005, 2006). It is both home and
industrially made. The industrial production reaches values of around
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 34 988 548 277; fax: + 34 988 548 276.
E-mail address: jmlorenzo@ceteca.net (J.M. Lorenzo).
500 metric tonnes per year. The homemade production is not officially
registered, but it is estimated in quantities double of those of the
industrial production.
“Chorizo gallego” is manufactured using as ingredients such as
pork lean, pork fat, salt, sweet paprika, spicy paprika and garlic. First
the meat is minced (10–15 mm openings), then mixed with the other
ingredients in a vacuum mixer, left at 2–4 °C for 24 h and then stuffed
into pig gut (diameter 32–34 mm). Ripening is carried out in
storerooms at 12–14 °C and 74–78% of relative humidity for 45 days.
The pieces are smoked during the first 5 days of ripening using smoke
from oak wood.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are well-known environ-
mental pollutants originating from countless natural processes and
human activities (Chen, Huang, Chen, & Guo, 2008; Kobayashi,
Okamoto, Maddalena, & Kado, 2008; Murakami et al., 2008). Smoke
is generated by thermal pyrolysis of a certain kind of biomass when
there is limited access of oxygen to prevent combustion, but allows
destructive distillation. The distillate as generated is a vapour, but as it
cools, some less volatile components condense to form a disperse
liquid phase, which along with soot particles, if present, constitute
visible smoke. The remaining more volatile components distribute
between the gaseous and disperse phase according to their solubilities
and volatilities at the prevailing temperature and humidity. A recent
review of biomass smoke composition recorded over 400 volatile
components comprising acids, alcohols, carbonyls, esters, furans,
lactones, phenols, PAHs and other miscellaneous compounds (Simoneit,
2002). The precise composition of biomass smoke and the extent to
which the food absorbs smoke constituents depend on several
factors: type of biomass, temperature of the process, amount of

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doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2011.03.017
106 J.M. Lorenzo et al. / Meat Science 89 (2011) 105–109
oxygen present during the smoke generation, moisture content of
biomass and particle size of the biomass (Guillén & Ibargoitia, 1996).
Contamination of PAHs by intense thermal processing due to direct
deposition of PAHs from smoke was produced through incomplete
combustion of different thermal agents. Because many of them are
highly suspect as etiological agents in human cancer, chemical analysis
of PAH is of great environmental and toxicological importance (Courter
et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2008; Park et al., 2008). The US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) lists the following 16 as “Consent Decree”
priority pollutants: benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]
fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]
pyrene, naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenan-
threne, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, and benzo[g,h,i]
perylene (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). Some
of them are known as carcinogenic or mutagenic because their
metabolites bind to DNA and can induce mutation and cancers (Rojas
et al., 2004).
Until now benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a main representative of PAHs
and the best studied, is used as a marker for the occurrence of the
carcinogenic PAHs. Maximum tolerable levels exist for BaP in smoke
condensates (Commission Regulation (EC) N° 2065/2003) and in
diverse foodstuff categories (EC No 1881/2006) setting maximum
levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs; including oils and fats,
smoked meats and fish, baby food, crustaceans, mussels indicating the
willingness of the legislator to control the contents of PAHs in
foodstuffs in a more general way.
The Commission recommends that the member states analyse the
contents of 15 PAH compounds classified as priority (15 SCF-PAH) to
check the suitability of BaP as a marker (European Commission,
2005a, 2005b). These 15 SCF-PAH are BaA, CHR, CPP, 5MC, BbF, BkF,
BjF, BaP, DhA, IcP, BgP, DlP, DeP, DiP and DhP. In particular, dibenzo[a,l]
pyrene (DlP) has been in the spotlight of scientific interest recently
because toxicological investigations indicated that DlP probably has a
much stronger carcinogenic potential than BaP (McClure & Scheny,
1995; Muller, Leece, & Raha, 1995).
Meat industry is interested in studying PAHs in smoked meat and
meat products, in order to improve food safety of products from
protected geographic areas and their compliance with the European
Union (EU) regulations. Smoked meat products represent a significant
part of the human diet in Galicia. They are important because of their
good taste, high nutritional value, high level of production and large
variety of products.
The aim of the present study was the investigation of the contents
of PAH compounds, which are recommended to be analysed by the
Scientific Committee on Food (SCF, 2002) and the European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA), in two Spanish traditional dry-cured sausage
varieties: “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de cebolla”. These meat
products have not previously been analysed for their contents of PAH
compounds.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sausage samples
For the study, sixteen samples of “Chorizo gallego” and sixteen of
“Chorizo de cebolla” sausage, manufacture by 16 different industrial
pork manufacturers following the traditional methods, were obtained
in local markets. Once collected, the samples were transported to the
laboratory under refrigeration conditions (b4 °C). In order to prepare
the samples for analysis, after removing and discarding the outer
casing from pieces samples, the edible part was ground in a mincer
(Moulinex/Swan Holdings Ltd., Birmingham, UK) until a homoge-
neous mass was obtained. The samples were stored in air-tight
bottles, frozen at −80 °C in dark, for no longer than four weeks until
analysis.
2.2. Reagents
The standard mixture NIST 1647d of 16 priority PAHs: naphthalene
(Naph), acenaphthene (Ace), acenaphthylene (Acy), fluorene (Fln),
phenanthrene (Phe), anthracene (Ant), fluoranthene (Flt), pyrene
(Pyr), benzo[a]anthracene (B[a]A), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluor-
anthene (B[b]F), benzo[k]fluoranthene (B[k]F), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]
P), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DB[ah]A), benzo[g,h,i]perylene (B[ghi]P)
and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (I[cd]P) dissolved in acetonitrile was
supplied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST,
Gaithesburg, MD, USA). Working standard solution (concentrations in
the range 0.01–60 ng mL− 1) was prepared in acetonitrile and stored at
4 °C. Acetonitrile and n-hexane (HPLC grade) were purchased from
Merck Biosciences (Darmstadt, Germany) and dimethylsufoxide
(DMSO) was supplied by Panreac (Castellar del Vallès, Barcelona,
Spain).
Before use, all glassware was washed with detergent, rinsed with
distilled water and acetone and then dried at 220 °C.
2.3. Extraction and clean-up
Homogenized meat samples were lyophilized (Labconco Corpo-
ration, Freezone, Kansas, USA). Then, 2 g (dry mass) of the lyophilate
was extracted three times with 25 mL for 1 h, 15 mL for 1 h and then
10 mL for 1 h with n-hexane in an ultrasonic bath (Branson
Ultrasonics Corporation, 8510, Danbury, USA). The combined extracts
(50 mL) were centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 10 min, and the superna-
tant was decanted and concentrated to 5 mL under a nitrogen stream.
Then, the concentrated hexane extract was passed through a Waters
Sep-Pak C18 Silica Plus cartridge (particle size, 57.1 μm) and eluted
with 10 mL n-hexane at flow-rate of 1 mL/min. Then, the hexane
eluate (final volume, 15 mL) was extracted with 15 mL for 5 min,
10 mL for 5 min and then 5 mL for 5 min of DMSO that had previously
been equilibrated with n-hexane. The DMSO solution was diluted
with 75 mL water and passed through a Water Sep-Pak C18 Plus
cartridge (particle size, 90.7 μm) that had previously been activated
by passage of 5 mL of CH3CN followed by 10 mL of distilled water. The
eluates were discarded and the cartridge was eluted with 5 mL of n-
hexane. Prior to HPLC analysis, this hexane solution was concentrated
to dryness under a nitrogen stream in a vacuum evaporator (Zymark
Corporation, Turbovap LV, Massachusetts, USA), and the residue was
redissolved in 1 mL of CH3CN, which was then filtered through
0.45 μm pore-size Waters Acrodisc GHP filters (Waters Corporation,
Milford).
2.4. Separation and identification of the polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons
The separation and identification of the polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons were performed by HPLC methods in a Waters 2695
(Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, U.S.A.) with a Waters 2475
(Waters Corporation, Milford) programmable fluorescence detector
for identification and quantification of PAHs in meat sausages. The
column was a Thermo Hypersil Green PAH (100 mm × 4.6 mm i.d.,
3 μm) (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany). The temperature
of the column during chromatographic separation was 35 ± 1 °C and
the setting for the programmable fluorescence detector was as follows
(excitation/emission wavelength): λ1 = 270/340 nm for 13.5 min
(naphthalene); λ2 = 270/340 nm for 2 min (acenaphthene, fluorene);
λ3 = 254/375 nm for 1.5 min (phenanthrene); λ4 = 260/420 nm for
2.5 min (anthracene, fluoranthene); λ5 = 254/390 nm for 6.5 min
(pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene); λ6 = 260/420 nm for 6 min
(benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene,
dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene); λ7 = 293/498 nm for
2 min (indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene). The injection volume was 20 μL. The
chromatographic separation was carried out under the following
 J.M. Lorenzo et al. / Meat Science 89 (2011) 105–109
conditions: gradient elution (0 min–45% acetonitrile + 55% water;
26 min–80% acetonitrile + 20% water; 27 min–85% acetonitrile + 15%
water; 28 min–90% acetonitrile + 10% water; 30 min–50% acetonitrile
50% water).The limits of quantification (LOQ) for PAH compounds
were 0.007–0.041 μg kg− 1. All the samples and standards were
injected at least in duplicate. Repeatability tests were performed by
injecting a standard and sample consecutively six times in one day.
Reproducibility tests were also carried out by injecting the standard
and the sample twice a day for three days under the same
experimental conditions. There were no significant differences
(P b 0.05) between the results obtained in either of these tests.
2.5. Statistical analysis
The experimental design was intended to determine the influence
of smoking process on PAH content in two Spanish traditional
sausages. The obtained results were statistically analysed using SPSS
15.0 statistical program package (Chicago, USA). One-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA) was used to estimate the significance of the
differences between the means of total and individual PAH content in
samples analysed. To verify that BaP is a good marker for other PAHs
in analysed smoked meat products, the Pearson's correlation co-
efficients (P b 0.05) between BaP values and the obtained contents of
analysed PAHs were calculated (SPSS 15.0).
3. Results and discussion
A total of 32 samples of meat product (16 “Chorizo gallego” and 16
“Chorizo de cebolla”) were analysed for contents of 15 major PAHs
(Fig. 1). In some samples concentration was not detectable, i.e.
concentration was below the limit of quantification (LOQ). Results
showed that the total mean levels of PAHs found were higher in
“Chorizo de cebolla” samples (101.81 μg kg− 1) than in “Chorizo
gallego” samples (98.48 μg kg− 1) although no significant differences
(P N 0.05) were observed.
The PAH values observed in both sausages were clearly lower than
those reported for other smoked meat products like salami (Martí-
Cid, Llobet, Castell, & Domingo, 2008) and “Pitina” (Purcaro, Moret, &
Conte, 2009), but these values were higher than those obtained for
other Serbian smoked meat products (Djinovic, Popovic, & Jira,
2008a).
The content of the smoke compounds present in these products
depends on the smoke composition used and on the intensity of
deposition of these compounds. The smoke composition depends on
Fig. 1. The PAHs contents (μg kg− 1 dry weight) in “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de
cebolla” samples.
107
the nature (vegetable species) of the wood and on the temperature to
which the wood burns (temperature to which the thermal decom-
position of the wood takes place) (García-Falcón & Simal-Gándara,
2005; Muthumbi et al., 2003; Rey-Salgueiro, García-Falcón, Soto-
González, & Simal-Gándara, 2004). The intensity of smoke deposition
depends above all on the environmental conditions (temperature and
relative humidity of the air that serves as vehicle for the smoke).
The variability observed by us in the content of each PAH between
the two sausages and also between the units analysed within the
same sausage type comes probably from differences in the type of
wood used and also from differences in the conditions of generation
and deposition of the smoke.
The smoking process has been carried out in a traditional
smokestack, in a traditional way, where it is not possible to control
the conditions of the process.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified
seven PAHs (benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]
fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, and
indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene) as Group B2, probable human carcinogens
(US EPA, 2002). In turn, the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC, 2004) established that benzo[a]anthracene and benzo
[a]pyrene are probable human carcinogens, whereas benzo[b]fluor-
anthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, and indeno
[1,2,3-cd]pyrene are possible human carcinogens (IARC, 2004). The
total amount of the seven carcinogenic PAHs in “Chorizo gallego” and
“Chorizo de cebolla” samples were 5.01 μg kg− 1 and 6.76 μg kg− 1,
respectively. If we consider only the probable carcinogenic PAHs,
chrysene which had the highest content (from a minimum value of
3.78 μg kg− 1 in “Chorizo gallego” samples to a maximum value of
12.05 μg kg− 1 in “Chorizo de cebolla” samples) was within the range
of those observed by other authors in salami (Martí-Cid et al., 2008)
but it was higher than those obtained for other smoked meat products
(Djinovic et al., 2008a; Djinovic, Popovic, & Jira, 2008b; Purcaro et al.,
2009).
Within PAHs the most abundant were phenanthrene (49.78 and
53.54 μg kg− 1), naphthalene (41.62 and 25.56 μg kg− 1) and anthra-
cene (9.96 and 15.39 μgkg− 1) in “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de
cebolla” samples, respectively, but no significant differences (P N 0.05)
were observed between the two traditional sausage varieties. Our
results agree with those reported by other authors for smoked meat
products (Martí-Cid et al., 2008; Purcaro et al., 2009) since
phenanthrene was the most abundant of PAHs.
The results reported by Jira, Ziegenhals, and Speer (2006) showed
that BaP was the major compounds within the group of other PAHs
with higher carcinogenic potential (Dha, DeP, Dhp; DlP) (Muller et al.,
1995). Reinik et al. (2007) found that BaP comprised on average 6.1%
of the sum of PAHs (BaA, BbF, BkF, BjF, BgP, BaP, CHR, DhA, Dep, DlP,
IcP and 5MC) in commercial smoked meat products. The contribution
of BaP was about 0.73% (mean) and varied from approximately 0.24–
1.66% in “Chorizo gallego” meat samples about 1.15% (mean) and
varied from approximately 0.24–3.77% in “Chorizo de cebolla”
samples. The BaP values observed in both sausages were clearly
lower than those reported for other smoked meat products (Djinovic
et al., 2008b) but these values were similar to those found in other
Spanish sausage (García-Falcón & Simal-Gándara, 2005) and they
were the highest among those obtained from other Italian smoked
sausage (Purcaro et al., 2009).
The EU has established a maximum level for BaP of 5 μg kg− 1 wet
weight European Commission (2005b) (EC 208/2005) for smoked
meat and smoked meat products although different European
countries (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic)
had previously adopted a legal limit of 1 μg kg− 1. The EU has also set a
maximum permissible limit for BaP present in foodstuffs as a result of
the use of smoking-flavour agents at 0.03 μg kg− 1 (Council of the
European Communities, 1988). In our work BaP level from any sample
did not exceed 5 μg kg− 1.
108 J.M. Lorenzo et al. / Meat Science 89 (2011) 105–109

Table 1
Correlational analysis (correlation coefficients, R) of the contents of PAHs found in the investigated “Chorizo gallego” samples (n = 16).

Naph Ace Fln Phe Ant Flt Pyr B[a]A Chr B[b]F B[k]F B[a]P DB[ah]A B[ghi]P I[cd]P ΣPAHs 7 US EPA

Naph 1
Ace 0.92** 1
Flt 0.63** 0.63** 1
Phe 0.34 0.22 0.62** 1
Ant 0.57* 0.43 0.83** 0.93** 1
Fln 0.58* 0.61* − 0.19 − 0.27 − 0.20 1
Py 0.47 0.22 0.47 0.81** 0.84** − 0.05 1
B[a]A 0.42 0.14 0.35 0.57* 0.64** 0.02 0.86** 1
Chr 0.44 0.17 0.51* 0.43 0.63** −0.13 0.73** 0.88** 1
B[b]F 0.48 0.18 0.59* 0.68** 0.81** − 0.22 0.81** 0.84** 0.87** 1
B[k]F 0.56* 0.38 0.73** 0.53* 0.74** − 0.22 0.61* 0.56* 0.70** 0.77** 1
B[a]P 0.49 0.25 0.67** 0.78** 0.89** -0.24 0.89** 0.84** 0.83** 0.93** 0.85** 1
DB[ah]A − 0.31 − 0.32 − 0.14 − 0.34 − 0.23 − 0.29 − 0.41 − 0.15 0.03 0.02 0.03 − 0.11 1
B[ghi]P 0.42 − 0.04 0.10 0.40 0.44 43 0.41 0.43 0.44 0.55* 0.51 0.52 0.02 1
I[cd]P − 0.47 − 0.60* − 0.13 − 0.04 − 0.07 − 0.52 0.03 0.27 0.32 0.19 0.12 0.14 0.52* 0.24 1
ΣPAHs 0.85** 0.74** 0.81** 0.78** 0.91** 0.19 0.75** 0.59* 0.56* 0.71** 0.70** 0.77** − 0.34 0.45 −0.31 1
7 US EPA 0.26 − 0.02 0.41 0.42 0.57* − 0.26 0.66** 0.88** 0.94** 0.85** 0.65** 0.81** 0.23 0.43 0.56* 0.44 1

Significance: **(P b 0.01), *(P b 0.05).

In our work BaP was in general 13% in both sausages of the total
sum of the seven probably carcinogenic PAHs in both sausages.
Toxicological investigations indicated that dibenzo[a,l]pyrene
probably has much stronger carcinogenic potential than benzo[a]
pyrene (Higginbotham, Ramakrishna, Johansson, Rogan, & Cavalieri,
1993) but in this study the content of DlP was not investigated.
The results (Tables 1 and 2) show that BaP is significantly
correlated with Fln, Phe, Ant, Pyr, BaA, Chr, BbF and BkF and the
sum of PAHs is significantly correlated with Naph, Ace Fln, Phe, Ant,
Pyr, BaA, Chr, BbF, amd BaP in “Chorizo gallego” samples and BaP is
significantly correlated with Flt, BaA, Chr and BkF, and the sum of
PAHs is significantly correlated with Naph, Ace, Fln, Phe, and Ant in
“Chorizo de cebolla” samples (Tables 1 and 2).
The suitability of BaP as a marker for 7 possible carcinogenic PAHs
was also checked by correlation between the content of BaP and total
7 US EPA PAH contents in both sausages (Tables 1 and 2). Our results
show that BaP is significantly correlated with 7 EPA in “Chorizo
gallego” samples (RBaP/7EPA PAHs = 0.81; P b 0.01) and in “Chorizo de
cebolla” samples (RBaP/7EPA PAHs = 0.95, P b 0.01).
According to our results, it could be concluded that BaP is a good
marker for the Σ 15 PAHs in “Chorizo gallego” samples (RBaP/
Σ15PAHs = 0.77; P b 0.01) as well as for 7 US EPA probably carcinogenic
PAHs in “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de cebolla” samples.
4. Conclusions
From the analysis of two Spanish traditional smoked sausages
(“Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de cebolla”) for contents of PAHs, it
can be concluded that “Androlla” samples showed more contents of
PAH compounds than “Botillo” samples, although no significant
differences (P N 0.05) were observed. These differences for PAH
content found between the same samples (obtained by different
producer) indicate that conditions used for smoking can influence the
final content of carcinogenic PAHs.
If we consider only the probable carcinogenic PAHs, chrysene
showed the highest content in both traditional sausages. The
maximum acceptable content of 5 μg kg− 1 for BaP in smoked meat
products was not exceeded in any samples.
According to the results from statistical analysis of this study it could
be concluded that BaP could be used as a marker for 16 EU PAHs in
“Chorizo gallego” samples and it is a good marker for 7 US EPA probably
carcinogenic PAHs in “Chorizo gallego” and “Chorizo de cebolla” samples.
Acknowledgements
This work was a part of the research Project 08TAL009CT granted
by the Xunta de Galicia (The Regional Government).

Table 2
Correlational analysis (correlation coefficients, R) of the contents of PAHs found in the investigated “Chorizo de cebolla” samples (n = 16).

Naph Ace Fln Phe Ant Flt Pyr B[a]A Chr B[b]F B[k]F B[a]P DB[ah] B[ghi] I[cd]P ΣPAHs 7 US EPA
A P

Naph 1
Ace 0.67** 1
Flt 0.64** 0.61* 1
Phe 0.69** 0.68** 0.89** 1
Ant 0.76** 0.56* 0.77** 0.81** 1
Fln 0.19 0.17 0.39 0.32 0.62* 1
Py − 0.22 − 0.22 − 0.13 − 0.25 0.04 0.02 1
B[a]A − 0.03 0.57* 0.21 0.14 0.25 0.51 0.42 1
Chr −0.21 0.29 0.22 0.14 0.05 0.49 0.33 0.86** 1
B[b]F 0.20 0.18 − 0.07 − 0.08 0.17 0.17 0.23 − 0.03 − 0.41 1
B[k]F − 0.16 0.26 0.30 0.20 0.04 0.41 0.22 0.75** 0.98** − 0.50* 1
B[a]P − 0.06 0.32 0.36 0.35 0.18 0.71** 0.12 0.76** 0.95** − 0.53* 0.95** 1
DB[ah]A − 0.36 − 0.16 − 0.46 − 0.33 − 0.15 0.07 0.21 − 0.02 − 0.24 0.43 − 0.36 − 0.31 1
B[ghi]P 0.25 0.28 0.22 0.42 0.46 0.22 0.19 0.69* 0.76* 0.53 − 0.19 0.56 − 0.20 1
I[cd]P 0.04 0.38 0.16 0.35 0.17 0.19 0.08 0.54* 0.62* − 0.35 0.59* 0.74** 0.19 0.30 1
ΣPAHs 0.82** 0.72** 0.90** 0.97** 0.89** 0.38 − 0.18 0.19 0.11 0.01 0.16 0.30 − 0.35 0.40 0.30 1
7 US EPA − 0.15 0.37 0.23 0.20 0.13 0.56* 0.37 0.89** 0.98** − 0.34 0.93** 0.95** − 0.11 0.72* 0.74** 0.18 1

Significance: **(P b 0.01), *(P b 0.05).

 J.M. Lorenzo et al. / Meat Science 89 (2011) 105–109
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