Six formulations of dry fermented sausages were produced in three replications with three initial fat levels (30% , 20% and 10%) and two levels (0 and 20%) of replacing pork backfat with olive oil. After 4 weeks of fermentation and ripening the fat content of the treatments with 30%, 20% and 10% fat level ranged from 38.86 to 43.60%, 25.56 to 26.86% and 19.01 to 20.14% respectively. Fat level affected (p<0.05) the weight losses, the chemical composition, the Gram -ve bacterial count, the lightness, the texture and the appearance of fermented sausages. Replacing 20% of pork backfat by olive oil affected (p<0.05) the lightness and yellowness of sausages. Fat-reduced sausages without olive oil and low-fat sausages with olive oil had the highest score for odour and taste. However, the appearance of fat-reduced sausages was just acceptable while that of low-fat sausages was unacceptable, because the surface was intensively wrinkled and case hardening was developed. Further research is needed to improve the appearance of these sausages.

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