The processing of dry-cured ham is very complex and involves numerous biochemical reactions that are reviewed in this article. 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). Muscle and adipose tissue lipids are also subject to intense lipolysis, generating free fatty acids by the action of lipases that, in a second stage, are transformed to volatiles as a result of oxidation. Sensory profiles of dry-cured ham are strongly affected by these enzymatic reactions. In addition, the activity levels of the muscle enzymes significantly depend on the properties of raw ham, such as age and crossbreeding as well as the process conditions such as temperature, time, water activity, redox potential, and salt content. Thus, the control of the muscle enzyme systems, mainly proteases and lipases, is essential for the standardization of the processing and/or enhancement of flavor quality of dry-cured ham.

Spanish “Serrano” dry-cured hams were processed under traditional practices which included two different length of the ripening−drying stage dry-curing methods. Dry-cured hams typically have high production cost because of the length of the ripening−drying stage which makes the product less competitive. In order to study the generation of dry-cured ham flavor the volatile components were investigated. Sensory properties were analyzed by GC/olfactometry and descriptive sensory techniques. The relationship of the volatile components with sensory descriptors was examined by factor analysis and resulted in a solution composed of four factors defined as “pork”, “cured”, “pleasant”, and “off-flavor”. The short ripening process was characterized by aldehydes, such as hexanal and 3-methyl butanal, alcohol (1-penten-3-ol), and dimethyl disulfide, that gave an olfactory sensation of fresh-cured pork flavor. The “pleasant” aroma in the short process had already been developed and was defined by ketones, esters, pyrazines, and aromatic hydrocarbons. On the other hand, the longer ripening−drying procedure produced an increase in “pork”, “cured” and “off-flavor” that masked the “pleasant” aroma. Keywords: Dry-cured ham; ripening; volatile compound; pork flavor; aged flavor

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