2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sampling
Pork liver sausages, fresh and dry, were purchased in a butcher shop
in Rome, Italy, where both processing and packaging werefinished. Dry
sausages were desiccated in the air during a 10 to 15 day maturation
period.
Four packs containing a total of 15 fresh liver sausages (about 80 g
per sausage) and four packs containing 14 dry sausages were bought.
To ensure the sampling of different production lots, the packs were
bought in four different weeks between January and February 2013,
when these products are more typically consumed.
Each sausage was chopped in three slices, obtaining a total of 45 and
42 slices for fresh and dry liver sausages, respectively. Fat was discarded
manually from slices, 250 mg of which was collected and subjected to
RNA extraction, individually