Changes of free amino acids and biogenic amines during extended ageing of Italian dry-cured ham

• Published in: Food science & technology Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 871 - 878
• Main Authors: Virgili, R., Saccani, G., Gabba, L., Tanzi, E., Soresi Bordini, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amino acids; Biogenic amines; Biological and medical sciences; carboxylation; cured meats; dried meat; Dry-cured ham; Food industries; free amino acids; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; ham; meat aging; Meat and meat product industries; nonprotein nitrogen; proteolysis; Salt content; sodium chloride; water activity; water content; Italy; Amino acids; Salt content; Dry-cured ham; Biogenic amines; Salt; Ham; Ageing; Biogenic amine; Meat product; Pork product
• ISSN: 0023-6438; 1096-1127
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lwt.2006.03.024

Sixty-two fresh hams were sub-grouped to undergo different processing times (15, 19 and 23 months), and corresponding dry-cured hams were analysed for changes in moisture, protein, NaCl, pH, proteolysis, free amino acids (FAAs) and biogenic amines (BAs) as related to the extended ageing. Dry-cured hams were influenced by ageing time, showing a decrease in moisture and water activity and an increase in pH, nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) and FAAs in more aged samples. The increase in FAAs and BAs progressively observed until the last sampling time might be enhanced by the moderate salt content (≈5 g NaCl/100 g muscle) and relatively high a w (>0.90) of dried hams even at 23 months of processing. Among FAAs, arginine did not increase with ageing, which might be due to arginine hydrolysis to ammonia and ornithine, followed by decarboxylation to putrescine, i.e. molecules largely present in the more aged hams. Tyramine, the most abundant among BAs, putrescine and cadaverine showed a dependence on time and proteolysis indices (NPN and FAAs). In this respect, the practice of extending the standard ageing time of typical italian dry-cured ham (13–15 months), regarded as a tool for improving sensory property of this product, should be supported by further studies, mainly at the manufacturing level, to minimize FAA and BA generation.