Catheptic Enzyme Activity in Aged Country-Style Hams as Influenced by Pre-Curing Treatment (original) (raw)

Manufacture of dry-cured ham: a review. Part 1. Biochemical changes during the technological process

European Food Research and Technology, 2015

various types of dry-cured ham are due to pig breed, feed of pigs, their weight and age, as well as differences in the production process. High-quality dry-cured hams, with a production length longer than 1 year, have distinct organoleptic characteristics: a rich, unique, and recognizable flavor and color in the range from rosy to maroon or brown red marbled with white fat. However, the sensorial, physical-chemical, aromatic, morphological, and textural characteristics of dry-cured ham vary significantly depending on the alterations in the technological process from producer to producer .

Effect of a 10-day ageing at 30°C on the texture of dry-cured hams processed at temperatures up to 18°C in relation to raw meat pH and salting time

Meat Science, 2008

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a 10-day ageing at 30 ± 2°C on the texture of drycured hams processed at temperatures up to 18 ± 2°C for 12 months in relation with raw ham pH and salting time. Three pH groups (semimembranosus muscle at 24 h post-mortem: Low pH < 5.7, Medium pH = 5.7 6 pH 6 5.9, and High pH > 5.9), three salting times (6 d, 10 d and 14 d) and two ageing temperatures (18°C and 30°C) were investigated. Physicochemical characteristics, instrumental and sensory texture and product sliceability were evaluated on biceps femoris and semimembranosus muscles. Hams with pH SM24 < 5.7 should be avoided in order to reduce the incidence of texture problems in dry-cured ham elaboration. Texture problems are especially important in hams with a reduced salt content that are mechanically sliced (not frozen). A 10-day ageing at 30°C could be useful for reducing the soft texture problems in dry-cured hams processed at temperatures up to 18°C for 12 months without affecting the product flavour.

Effect of wet-curing on physical properties and proteins of cured ham

Progress in Agricultural Engineering Sciences

Consuming enough protein is a very important part of a balanced and healthy diet. Complete proteins are those in which all essential amino acids are present. In meat products, like hams, many different reactions occur during ageing and storage. For example, the production of free amino acids or the production of biogenic amines is formed by decarboxylation. In this study, the presence of these amino acids and biogenic amines, as well as the quality properties of cured hams during curing and ageing, were investigated. The meat samples were immersed into 100 g L−1 NaCl brine. The curing took 20 days, followed by smoking and ageing for 35 days (12 °C, 75% RH). The wet-cured ham samples were analysed for changes in NaCl concentration (at 3 parts: surface, core, bottom layer). Moreover, color, water activity, denaturation temperature and enthalpy (Differential Scanning Calorimetry), free amino acids (FAAs) and biogenic amines (BAs) were also evaluated.

Accelerated production of dry cured hams

Meat Science, 1987

S UMMA R Y Ten uncured legs from the right side of the sampled pork carcasses (Study A ) were vacuum tumbled with the cure adjuncts for 30rain (T) and I0 counterparts from the left side were tumbled 30rain, rested 30min and tumbled an additional 30 rain (TRT). Evaluations were conducted at 40 and 70 days after cure application for color, taste attributes, percentage moisture, percentage salt and NO~ and NO~ content. Study B was the same except that 18 legs were boned, tumbled and cured for 40.56 and 70 days. The TRT samples (Study A )at 40 days sustained less color fading (P < 0"05 ) during cookery, but no differences (P > 0"05)existed among the uncooked hams. bwreased cure time enhanced moisture loss and salt content (Study A ) and color retention during cooker)' (Stud)" B). The TRT samples had increased moisture loss and salt content (Stud)" A ).

Dry cured Iberian ham non-volatile components as affected by the length of the curing process

Food Research International, 1999

Free amino acids and peptides from 10 dry-cured Iberian hams ripened for two dierent processing times, a prolonged traditional one (600 days) and a shortened process (420 days), were analysed by reverse-phase HPLC. Most amino acids decreased from day 420 to day 600, whereas total peptide content and some of the individual peptides increased during this period. When analysing peptide extracts by HPLC coupled to an APCI-MS detector, peptides found showed a MW between 189 and 317. Partial leastsquares regression of chemical and sensory data indicated that saltiness was related to salt content, whereas bitterness was related to some late-eluting peptides. #

Dry-cured ham flavour: enzymatic generation and process influence

Food Chemistry, 1997

The processing of dry-cured ham is very complex and involves numerous biochemical reactions that are reviewed in this paper. Muscle proteins undergo an intense proteolysis resulting in a great number of small peptides and high amounts of free amino acids. The enzymes responsible of these changes are proteinases (cathepsins B, D, H and L and, to a less extent, calpains) and exopeptidases (peptidases and aminopeptidases).

Evolution of proteolytic and physico-chemical characteristics of Norwegian dry-cured ham during its processing

Meat Science, 2016

Proteolytic activity and physico-chemical characteristics were studied for Norwegian dry-33 cured ham at four different times of processing: raw hams, post-salted hams (3 months of 34 processing), hams selected in the middle of the production (12 months of processing) and 35 hams at the end of the processing (24 months). Cathepsin H activity decreased until negligible 36 values after 3 months of processing, whereas cathepsins B and B+L were inactive at 12 37 months. AAP was the most active aminopeptidase whereas RAP and MAP were active just 38 during the first 12 months of processing. Proteolysis index reached a value of 4.56±1.03 % 39 with non-significant differences between 12 and 24 months of ripening. Peptide identification 40 by LC-MS/MS was done and two peptides (GVEEPPKGHKGNKK and QAISNNKDQGSY) 41 showing a linear response with the time of processing were found. Unfreezable water content 42 and glass transition temperature were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry 43 (DSC) technique with non-significant differences in the temperature of glass transition for 12 44 and 24 months of processing. 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

DIFFERENTIATION OF CURED COOKED HAMS BY PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND CHEMOMETRICS

Journal of Food Quality, 2009

Comparison of physico-chemical and compositional traits was carried out on cooked hams. Deboned fresh pig thighs of three different origins were divided into three batches: 200 pig thighs from the Italian market, H1; 200 from The Netherlands, H2; and 200 from Denmark, H3. Boneless pig thighs were processed under commercial guidelines for production of cooked hams, using brine at 25% level of injection. After processing, 12 cooked hams from each batch were sampled randomly and analyzed for proximate and fatty acid composition. Color measurement was performed on the muscles: biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus. H1 hams showed a higher weight loss and a lower technological yield compared to H2 and H3 hams. Analysis of variance on compositional data showed that H1 hams had a lower moisture/protein ratio, a higher fat content, a lower percentage of a-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid, and a higher percentage of myristic and palmitic acids when compared to H2 and H3 hams (P < 0.05). Analysis of color of the three muscles demonstrated that hams from the H1 group had the highest a* values. The application of linear discriminant analysis demonstrated that the use of only four variables allowed to correctly discriminate among groups of cooked hams.

Accelerated Processing of Boneless Hams to Dry-Cured State

Journal of Food Protection, 1983

Three different cure mixtures were applied at the rate of 5% of the weight of fresh boneless hams before tumbling at 21°C for 3 h continuously at 22 rpm. The hams were held 12 h at 4.4°C for salt (NaCl) equalization, smoked for 4 h, cooked to an internal temperature of 71°C and aged for 14 d. Sensory evaluations were made and residual salt, moisture and nitrite (NO2−) were determined. Panel scores were similar for all treatments that were tumbled. Percentage salt and moisture were similar for the three treatments but the control (non-tumbled) had the lowest concentration of NaCl and NO2−. Residual NO2− levels for hams treated with 0.1 or 0.2% sodium nitrite (NaNO2) were not different (P>0.05). The highest NO2− level was detected in hams cured with nitric oxide.

Volatile compounds of dry-cured Iberian ham as affected by the length of the curing process

Meat Science, 1999

Volatile compounds from 10 dry-cured Iberian hams ripened for two dierent processing times, a prolonged traditional one (600 days) and a shortened process (420 days), were analysed by purge and trap coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Eighty-three compounds were identi®ed which agreed with the major classes found in other ham types. The amount of methyl branched alkanes was much higher than in other dry-cured ham types, probably due to the feeding regime. The percentages of 2and 3-methylbutanal were higher (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.0003, respectively) in the longer aged hams, whereas the amounts of some compounds from lipid oxidation decreased from 420 to 600 days aging. In agreement with these observations, 600-day hams had higher scores for those odour and¯avour traits usually considered to be positive attributes and lower scores for rancidity. A positive and signi®cant correlation between 2-methyl butanal and cured¯avour was found. #