Effect of Inoculation on the Quality of Dry‐cured Hams

Abstract

Twenty pairedpork legs were vacuum tumbled with cure adjuncts at 18 revolutions per minute (RPM) and 94.5 k Pa vacuum for 30 min. Following 40 days of curing, those legsfrom the right side were inoculated (I) with a mixed culture of microorganisms obtained from commercially cured ham and those from the lefi were not inoculated (C). All samples were evaluated at 56 days and 73 days for sensory traits. Water, NaCl, NO, and NOz determinations were also made. Inoculation increased (P < 0.05) cured color development of uncooked samples cured for 56 days. Cure time and inoculation had no effect (P > 0.05) on juiciness or flavor. Aging increased tenderness (P < 0.05), as evidenced in the samples at 73 days, and reduced the moisture content. Microbial inoculation did not accelerate the cure penetration rate and had no consistent effect on the amount of NO3 and NO,.

Sensory and Texture Quality of Dry‐Cured Ham as Affected by Endogenous Cathepsin B Activity and Muscle Composition

“…Published studies were reviewed by Marriott et al (1992). In order to enhance the flavor of hams resulting from fast processing (Kemp and Fox, 1985) Marriott et al (1987) used bacterial inoculation. Also, muscle proteolytic enzymes were taken into account as factors capable of affecting the sensory quality of dried hams (Toldra et al, 1991(Toldra et al, , 1994Parrefio et al, 1994).…”