Influence of pork liver drying on the enzyme activity of Ferrochelatase and the formation of Zinc protoporphyrin

Abstract

Ferrochelatase (FeCH) is an endogenous enzyme present in pork liver. This enzyme catalyzes the formation of Zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), which is a natural colorant responsible of the typical color of Italian Parma ham. This works explores the effect of drying temperature(from -10 to 70ºC) on the FeCH activity and ZnPP formation from dried pork liver. Drying of pork liver caused a significant decrease in FeCH activity (up to 93%) compared to fresh pork liver. Therefore, dried pork liver at 0 °C was the ones that showed for the lowest enzymatic activity reduction (82% less enzyme activity that fresh liver). Drying temperature at 10ºC was the optimum for the ZnPP formation, obtaining 0.2 µmol of ZnPP/g of liver.