Pre-cure freezing affects proteolysis in dry-cured hams

Several parameters (sodium chloride, moisture, intramuscular fat, total nitrogen, non-protein nitrogen, white precipitates, free tyrosine, L* a* b* values and acceptability) related with proteolysis during the curing were compared in dry-cured hams manufactured from refrigerated and frozen/thawed raw material. Pre-cure freezing increased the proteolysis levels significantly (p<0.05) in the zones of the ham where water losses and absorption of salt is slowest. Frozen hams present a high incidence of white precipitates, formed mainly by tyrosine crystals. The colour and acceptability scores are similar in frozen and refrigerated hams. The previous freezing and thawing process accentuates the water losses, salt absorption and proteolysis of the cured meat, although it does not significantly affect the sensory quality of the dry-cured ham.     

Influence of pre-cure freezing of Iberian hams on lipolytic changes and lipid oxidation

The purpose of this work was to study the influence of pre-cure freezing of Iberian hams on lipolysis and lipid oxidation during the ripening of the product. At the green stage, the levels of fatty acids (FA) in the free fatty acids fraction were higher in pre-cure frozen (F) than in refrigerated (R) hams, whereas in the polar lipid fraction, FA and dimethyl acetals (DMA) values were higher in R than in F Iberian hams. These results point out the existence of lipolysis phenomena during the freezing storage. At the end of post-salting and at the final stage, both R and F hams showed similar FA and DMA profiles. The effect of pre-cure freezing of hams influenced lipolysis evolution throughout the processing. The development of lipid oxidation was similar in R and F hams, but Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBAR) values were significantly higher in F hams at the initial stage and at the end of post-salting and drying steps. Despite all these differences, at final stage the FA and DMA composition as well as TBAR levels were quite similar in R and F hams.     

Effect of prefreezing hams on endogenous enzyme activity during the processing of Iberian dry-cured hams

The use of frozen/thawed raw material in the processing of Iberian dry-cured ham has been studied to determine its effect on the sensory quality of the final product. The proteolysis and lipolysis processes were measured by the proteolytic and lipolytic enzyme activities and free amino acids and free fatty acids. The thawed Iberian hams had lower salt contents throughout the process. The use of thawing raw material did not affect the proteolytic enzymes, cathepsins, aminopeptidases and dipeptidylpeptidases, only the activity of dipeptidylpeptidase III was reduced due to thawing. Moreover, there were no differences in the content of free amino acids between fresh and thawed hams during the whole process. However, the use of thawing hams affected the lipolytic activity. The activity of phospholipase and neutral lipase were significantly higher in the thawed hams and also the content of free fatty acids, at all the stages analyzed. Consumer sensory analysis showed thawed Iberian hams had the lowest hardness, probably due to an intense proteolysis. The acceptability of the Iberian hams was similar between fresh and thawed hams.     

Accelerated processing of dry-cured ham. Part 2. Influence of brine thawing/salting operation on proteolysis and sensory acceptability

In a previous study, the brine thawing/salting operation using frozen hams as raw material was studied as a valid alternative for the accelerated processing of dry-cured hams. But no information was available on how this treatment could affect some important biochemical mechanisms and the sensory quality of hams. The aim of this work was to study the influence of the simultaneous brine thawing/salting operation on proteolysis and sensory acceptability of the produced dry-cured hams. The results confirm that dry-cured hams can be produced by using brine thawing/salting with a substantial reduction in the thawing and salting time needed. This accelerated process resulted in similar or even better sensory preferences than hams produced through the traditional method. However, the preference of consumers based on the appearance was lower for most of the hams than when using the traditional method, probably due to a wider slice section of the brined hams that can be corrected by adequate pressure during the salting. Thus, this treatment can be used without affecting the quality of dry-cured hams.     

Damage to Pork Liver Caused by Repeated Freeze-Thaw Cycling and Refrigerated Storage

The effects of freezing and thawing (F-T) and refrigerated storage (R-S) on pork liver were examined. Intact cells were isolated from the tissue and analyzed for membrane integrity and the tissue extracts were analyzed for protein content. Significant (p < 0.05) differences were noted in the number of isolated intact cells and in tissue protein content between F-T and R-S or fresh livers. Differences in cell membrane integrity were also noted between fresh and R-S livers. Repeated freezing and thawing appears to break down the liver structure differently than does refrigerated storage.     

The effect of using PSE meat in the manufacture of dry-cured ham

 Drying, salting, protein changes, colour and the sensory quality were studied in dry-cured ham manufactured from refrigerated and frozen/thawed raw pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat. The results obtained showed that the use of PSE meat increases the level of drying, salting and proteolysis of the dry-cured ham, although it does not significantly affect the sensory quality. Freezing and thawing of the raw material accentuates the proteolytic and exudative nature of the meat during the curing process, and as a result the salting and drying levels increase to such an extent that the PSE effect in these hams is practically undetectable. Received: 6 June 1997 / Revised version: 17 July 1997     

Effect of low-temperature preservation on the quality of vacuum-packaged dry-cured ham: Refrigerated boneless ham and frozen ham cuts

The effect of storage on dry-cured ham quality was studied. Sixteen vacuum-packaged boneless dry-cured hams and sixteen vacuum-packaged dry-cured ham cuts were stored in darkness under refrigeration (4±2°C; 8 months) or freezing (-18±1°C; 24 months), respectively. Instrumental colour and texture, physico-chemical and biochemical parameters, sensory profile and consumer acceptability and purchase satisfaction were measured throughout storage. The overall quality of refrigerated boneless dry-cured hams and frozen dry-cured ham cuts showed only limited changes throughout long-term storage. Significant changes involved loss of odour and flavour, increased adhesiveness and modification of hardness, the Semimembranosus muscle became tender while Biceps femoris became harder, leading to a higher textural homogeneity. In agreement with those changes, the overall acceptability assessed by a trained panel decreased throughout storage, though this was significant regarding only frozen hams. However, consumer evaluation of acceptability, as well as satisfaction with hypothetical purchasing, did not vary significantly throughout storage.     

Quality changes during the frozen storage of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) muscle after pressure shift freezing and pressure assisted thawing

Quality of frozen sea bass muscle stored (1, 3 and 5 months) at two levels of temperature (−15 and −25 °C) after a pressure shift freezing process (200 MPa) — PSF — and/or a pressure assisted thawing process (200 MPa) — PAT — was evaluated in comparison with samples frozen and thawed using conventional methods (air-blast AF and AT, respectively). Frozen storage of high-pressure treated samples did not significantly affect initial quality of frozen muscle. Thus, parameters related to protein denaturation and extractability, water holding capacity and color presented similar values than those obtained for not stored samples. In addition, the improvement of the microstructure achieved by PSF application remains unchanged during frozen storage. On the other hand, conventional treated samples experienced significant changes during frozen storage, such as protein denaturation, and water holding capacity and color modifications. Storage temperatures did not have influence in the quality of PSF and PAT samples, but it showed some effects in AF muscle.Industrial relevance: This work demonstrates the potential application and benefits of high pressure (HP) in the freezing and thawing of fish meat in comparison to conventional methods, due to an improvement on the cellular integrity of the tissue. Although some negative effects are produced during processing with HP, no additional modifications occur during the frozen storage. The studied methodologies seemed to be very suitable for fish freezing and thawing, especially for products which will be frozen stored and/or cooked.     

Ultrastructure of Pork Liver after Freeze-Thaw Cycling and Refrigerated Storage

Pork liver was subjected to repeated freezing (-20°C) and thawing (+ 5°C) to simulate conditions of temperature abuse of frozen liver during commercial transport. Ultrastructure was compared to that of refrigerated pork liver. Liver cells deteriorated more with freezing and thawing (F-T) than with refrigerated storage (R-S). After one cycle F-T, hepatocyte organelles were damaged and cytoplasmic components appeared in the sinusoids. After four cycles F-T, membranes were extensively damaged and sinusoids contained organelles. The tissue organization was stable during six days of refrigerated storage, although cell structure deteriorated. Evidence from ultrastructure indicated that drip from F-T liver and R-S liver arose from different kinds of tissue damage.     

Study of salting and post-salting stages of fresh and thawed Iberian hams

Fresh raw material has been traditionally used to obtain dry-cured Iberian ham, although the use of thawed raw material is increasing. This type of raw material has been previously studied for dry-cured production employing White pigs, where the salting time has been reduced to reach similar NaCl concentrations. The aim of this work was the analysis of salting and post-salting stages of Iberian hams, employing fresh or thawed raw materials. The results showed that fresh Iberian hams had higher salt concentrations than thawed Iberian hams for the salting time ratio used, a ratio established to reduce the freezing/thawing effect that was previously observed working with White ham. This fact shows that the Iberian raw material in dry-cured ham manufacturing is less affected, by the freezing/thawing process than the White raw material.     

Influence of pre-cure freezing of Iberian ham on proteolytic changes throughout the ripening process

This work aimed to investigate the effect of pre-cure freezing Iberian hams on proteolysis phenomena throughout the ripening process. Non-protein nitrogen (NPN), peptide nitrogen (PN) and amino acid nitrogen (AN) as well as amino acid and dipeptide evolution followed the same trend in both refrigerated (R) and pre-cure frozen (F) Iberian hams during processing. At the different stages of ripening, there were no differences in the content of NPN and AN while F dry-cured hams had higher levels of PN than R hams at the final step. This seemed to be more related to the salt content (lower in F than in R hams) than to the pre-cure freezing treatment. Most amino acids and dipeptides detected showed higher concentrations in F than in R Iberian hams at the green stage, being rather similar at the intermediate phases. At the final stage, the effects of pre-cure freezing of Iberian hams were not well defined, higher levels of some amino acids and dipeptides were found in R than in F Iberian hams whereas other amino acids were lower in R than in F hams.     

EFFECTS OF INITIAL pH ON COMPOSITIONAL CHANGES AND SENSORY TRAITS OF FRENCH DRY-CURED HAMS

Fifty hams were distributed into 2 groups differing in initial pH of the Adductor muscle — one group with a pH < 6.1 (low pH group) and the other group with a pH of 6.1 or higher (high pH group). Ten hams were used for fresh meat analysis, while the 40 other hams were processed by dry-curing. Five hams of each pH group were used for chemical analysis before processing (day 0) and at days 74, 81, 179 and 273 of processing. The Biceps femoris muscle was analyzed for moisture, salt content, lipids, nitrogen fractions and volatile compounds. Sensory analysis was performed at days 179 and 273. The low pH hams had higher moisture and salt content at the beginning of processing. They reflected more active lipolysis and proteolysis as indicated by higher levels of free fatty acids and nonprotein nitrogen. Also, they were scored as firmer, dryer and had a less intense fat aroma.     

Effect of brine thawing/salting on endogenous enzyme activity and sensory quality of Iberian dry-cured ham

Simultaneous brine thawing/salting process was applied as an alternative to traditional pile salting process using 51 frozen Iberian hams. The effect of this type of salting process on endogenous enzyme activity and sensory quality of Iberian dry-cured hams was analysed. The frozen hams were simultaneously thawed and salted with saturated brine, with and without vacuum pulses, and were compared to hams thawed under refrigeration and traditionally salted. The peptidase and lipase activities were measured at the end of salting and post-salting stages. The activity of cathepsin B+L was reduced in the two brine salted batches while few differences among batches were observed for the other peptidases. Several lipase activities were significantly reduced in the two brine salted batches. The brine thawed processing affected the free fatty acid content at the different stages although the differences were more appreciated at the beginning of the process and no differences were observed at the end. The long ripening time makes these differences negligible and the consumer did not appreciate any differences between the sensory quality of Iberian brine/thawed hams and traditional Iberian thawed pile salted hams.     

Effect of brine thawing/salting for time reduction in Spanish dry-cured ham manufacturing on proteolysis and lipolysis during salting and post-salting periods

The simultaneous brine thawing/salting operation has been proposed as an effective alternative for the accelerated processing of frozen cured hams. The aim of the present study was to study the effect of this new technology on the lipolytic and proteolytic enzymes responsible for the generation of flavour precursors during the salting and post-salting stages of the manufacturing of Spanish dry-cured ham. The effect of the frozen and thawed process produced a higher proteolytic and lipolytic activity than in the fresh traditional salted hams (FPS) that was detected by a higher concentration in free amino acids and free fatty acids. On the other hand, the brine thawed/salted treatments, at atmospheric pressure (BTS) and with vacuum impregnation (BTS-TP), produced an acceleration of the myofibrillar degradation that occurred in the BTS and BTS-TP hams in comparison to FPS. However, the lipolysis was affected by the frozen treatment but not by the brine thawed treatments, as few differences in free fatty acids and lipase activity were detected among the frozen and brine thawed hams at the end of post-salting stage.     

Influence of pre‐cure freezing on the profile of volatile compounds during the processing of Iberian hams

BACKGROUND: This work was designed to study the effect of pre‐cure freezing of raw thighs from Iberian pigs on the profile of volatile compounds during the processing of hams. RESULTS: Generation of volatile compounds during Iberian ham processing was similar in both pre‐cure frozen and refrigerated hams, the main differences being at the final stage. The levels of 2‐methylbutanal, 2‐methyl‐1‐butanol, 2,3‐butanediol and 2‐heptanol were significantly higher in dry‐cured hams that were pre‐cure frozen than in refrigerated ones, whereas the content of most detected esters was statistically lower in pre‐cure frozen than in refrigerated hams. CONCLUSION: The effect of pre‐cure freezing of Iberian ham on the profile of volatile compounds during ripening was not remarkable. Few differences were found in the final product, which would not greatly modify the aroma and flavour features of the dry‐cured hams. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Definition of the optimal freezing rate-2. Investigation of the physico-chemical properties of beef M. longissimus dorsi frozen at different freezing rates

The influence of freezing rate on weight loss during the freezing, thawing and cooking, on water-binding capacity, on sensory and other physico-chemical properties of beef M. longissimus dorsi was investigated. The changes in myofibrillar proteins in muscle samples frozen at different freezing rates were also investigated.

The greatest weight losses during the freezing, thawing and cooking were registered at slow freezing procedures (freezing rate of 0·22 cm/h and 0·29 cm/h), when the meat was tougher and less soft. The solubility of myofibrillar proteins was least from those muscles frozen at such freezing rates.

The freezing of samples at freezing rates of 3·33 cm/h and 3·95 cm/h had less influence on their physico-chemical characteristics. The solubility of the myofibrillar proteins from such samples was greatest, and the cooked samples were the most tender.

From analysis of the results it was concluded that optimal conditions for meat freezing seem to be those when the average freezing rate is 2–5 cm/h.     

PECAN TEXTURE AS AFFECTED BY MOISTURE CONTENT BEFORE FREEZING AND THAWING RATE

The texture of pecans was determined as affected by initial moisture content before freezing (3 vs 5%), thawing rate (IX, 1.2X, 2.7X, 5.6X), and multiple freeze‐thaw cycles (0, 1X, 3X, 6X, 9X, 12X). Texture was determined by instrumental Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) and sensory evaluation. Initial moisture content before freezing had a significant effect on all of the sensory evaluation parameters (hardness, fracturability, cohesiveness, and denseness) and most of the instrumental TPA texture parameters (hardness, fracturability, springiness, resilience, and chewiness). Thawing rate only affected TPA hardness and resilience. TPA fracturability correlated best with sensory fracturability. The sensory panel could not detect any differences between the different thawing rates. The slowest thawing rate affected more parameters than the medium and faster rates. More freeze/thaw cycles significantly decreased most TPA texture values, especially for pecans at higher moisture content.     

基于低场核磁共振研究不同解冻方式对冻猪肉食用品质的影响

本研究旨在从低场核磁共振（low field-nuclear magnetic resonance,LF-NMR）T2弛豫的角度探究不同解冻方式对冻猪肉食用品质的影响。以冷鲜肉（半腱肌,宰后27 h）作对照,测定冷藏解冻、微波-1解冻和微波-2解冻3 种解冻方式下冷冻猪肉的品质特性（解冻损失、蒸煮损失、持水能力（water holding capacity,WHC）、pH值、色泽、水溶性和盐溶性蛋白含量）,T2弛豫时间的水分分布情况及感官品质特性的变化。结果表明：微波-2解冻耗时最短,为5 min;微波解冻与冷藏解冻相比,具有更低的解冻损失率（P＜0.01）,其中微波-2的解冻损失率最低（5.31%）;并且相比于鲜肉,微波-2具有更高的WHC（30.99%）和更低的剪切力（19.49 N）;3 种解冻方式对肉样pH值无显著影响（P＞0.05）;微波解冻对肉样L*值、a*值、b*值、水溶性蛋白含量和盐溶性蛋白含量的影响均优于冷藏解冻,且与冷鲜肉更加接近;NMR T2弛豫的水分分布情况显示,冷藏解冻使冻猪肉中的不易流动水向自由水进行迁移,微波-1解冻则使冻猪肉中的自由水向不易流动水迁移,而微波-2解冻更倾向于使不易流动水向结合水迁移,这一定程度上解释了以上品质特性指标的差异性;感官评价结果显示微波-2解冻肉样各项评估指标评分与鲜肉更接近。由此可见,微波-2解冻能够更好地保持猪肉的食用品质。     

Comparison of sensory characteristics and fatty acid composition between Wagyu crossbred and Angus steers

Angus (n = 10) and crossbred (3/4 and 7/8) Wagyu (n = 10) steers were fed a diet according to typical Japanese standards for 552 days. The steers were fed to gain approximately 0·90 kg/head/day. Fatty acid composition was determined for subcutaneous and intramuscular adipose tissue, and M. longissimus dorsi muscle. Trained sensory evaluation and a consumer triangle test were performed on M. longissimus dorsi muscle steaks. For subcutaneous and intramuscular tissue. Wagyu adipose tissue possessed higher (P < 0·05) percentages of 14:1, 16:1 and 18:1 and a lower (P < 0·05) percentage of 16:0 and 18:0 than corresponding tissues from Angus steers. Trained sensory panel analysis revealed no differences (P < 0·05) in any of the sensory traits between steaks from Wagyu crossbred and Angus steers. However, a consumer triangle test indicated that consumers can detect a difference between breeds.     

Relationship between heat transfer parameters and the characteristic damage variables for the freezing of beef

One of the most suitable parameters for relating the freezing rate to the volume of drip produced during the thawing of meat is the characteristic time, defined as the time necessary to reduce the temperature of the sample from −1·1°C (initial freezing point in beef) to −7°C (80% of the water frozen).

However, as the freezing of beef in factories takes place with important temperature gradients, distributions of these characteristic times must be expected along the pieces of frozen meat.

In order to relate these characteristic time distributions to heat transfer parameters under industrial freezing conditions, a mathematical model which simulates the freezing of beef is developed in this paper.

The model establishes the heat transfer equations with simultaneous change of phase, taking into account the dependence of the thermal properties with the ice content and considering the anisotropy of the thermal conductivity according to the direction of the fibres.

Boundary conditions include the possibility of thermal resistances in the refrigerated interphase.

The model developed was compared with laboratory experiments performed under factory freezing conditions and showed a satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment.