Water mobility and distribution during dry-fermented sausages “Spanish type” manufacturing and its relationship with physicochemical and textural properties: a low-field NMR study

• Published in: European food research & technology Vol. 243; no. 3; pp. 455 - 466
• Main Authors: García, Ana Belén García, Rodríguez, Mª Isabel Cambero, de Ávila Hidalgo, Mª Dolores Romero, Bertram, Hanne Christine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; German
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Analysis; Analytical Chemistry; Biotechnology; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Fermentation; Food; Food Science; Forestry; Manufacturing; Meat products; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Original Paper; Sensory perception; Studies; Water; Ripening; Fermented sausages; Textural properties; Physicochemical features; NMR relaxation
• ISSN: 1438-2377; 1438-2385
• DOI: 10.1007/s00217-016-2759-0

Changes in the mobility and distribution of water in dry-fermented sausages Spanish type (“chorizo” and “salchichón”, 20 and 40 % fat) throughout ripening were detected by NMR T 2 relaxation. Three to four different water populations ( T 2 b 1 , T 2 b 2 , T 21 and T 22 ) were detected. Multivariate cluster analysis revealed a clear discrimination between samples of different ripening times, and significant differences were found in the physicochemical parameters, T 2 relaxation data and textural properties of sausages according to the production day (0, 2, 4, 7, 11 and 14). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (PCC) was used to establish the degree of linear dependence between T 2 relaxation–physicochemical characteristics and T 2 relaxation-textural properties. A strong correlation was found between the main component T 21 and the water content ( r  = 0.93), T 21 and a w ( r  = 0.87), as well as between T 21 and hardness ( r  = −0.78), although the other two water populations, mainly T 2 b , showed a lower degree of association with the physicochemical and textural parameters. Consequently, the study demonstrated that LF-NMR relaxometry is a promising technique to elucidate associations between the biophysical state of intrinsic water and progression in textural properties of dry-fermented meat products.