engleski

Volatile compounds in smoked dry-cured ham

Dry-cured meat products, mainly from pork meat, have a huge impact on the economy of Mediterranean countries, where a great variety of smoked meat products are produced.[1] Dry-cured ham is a traditional product with a strong presence in markets in the Mediterranean area and it is very popular with European consumers. The aroma is a key attribute that impacts the overall acceptance of dry-cured hams and is due to the presence of many volatile compounds, most of them produced by chemical and enzymatic mechanisms during the post-mortem process ; the main biochemical reactions being lipolysis and proteolysis.[2, 3] If smoking phase is included in dry-cured ham production phenolic components of the smoke contribute to the flavour and aroma of the product so the aim of this research was to determine volatile flavour compounds of smoked dry-cured ham by using headspace-solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Samples of smoked dry-cured ham were also evaluated by measuring chemical characteristics: moisture, protein, fat, ash and NaCl content. Colour (L*, a*, b*) was also determined. 88 volatile compounds of smoked dry-cured ham were identified and 15 of them were quantified. Identified volatile compounds belonged to several classes of chemical: 23 aldehydes, 16 phenols, 10 alcohols, 4 terpenes, 12 aromatic hydrocarbons, 7 alkanes and alkenes, 8 ketones, 4 esters and 4 acids. Aldehydes (50%) and phenols (24%) were the most abundant group of compounds. Investigated dry-cured hams contained 43.6% water, 33.5% protein, 11.9% fat and 6.7% NaCl. Smoked dry-cured hams have higher L* and b* values and lower a* values than non-smoked.

aroma, smoked dry-cured ham, GC-MS

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