| Abstract: | Chemical and color (CIELAB) attributes were measured in three muscles of dry-cured hams: Semimembranosus (SM) , Semitendinosus (ST) and Biceps femoris (BF), at the end of the aging step, which represents the last month of the dry-curing process. SM muscles showed the lowest values for all the chemical and color parameters except the a*/b* ratio while the BF muscles had the highest values except for the same a*/b* ratio. Differences were found in the moisture content, salt concentration, water activity, lightness, chroma, and the a*/b* ratio between the three muscles analysed. BF and ST muscles showed no differences for redness, yellowness and hue. Lightness was highly correlated with moisture and water activity values. |
