Analysis of Physicochemical Changes during Xuan’en Ham Processing
GENG Cuizhu1, JI Xin1, WANG Haibin1,2,*, XU Wei1,2, CHEN Jiwang1,2, WANG Qi1, XIONG YoulingL.2,3
1.College of Food Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China;
2.Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Processing of Agricultural Products, Wuhan 430023, China;
3.Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY40546, USA
Abstract：The aim of this work was to study physicochemical changes of Xuan’en ham at six different stages of processing. Accordingly, the contents of water, ash, total nitrogen, water soluble nitrogen, non-protein nitrogen, pH and free fatty acid composition in biceps femoris muscle were measured and flavor peptides were evaluated using an electronic nose. The results showed that during Xuan’en ham processing, water content decreased continually and ash content kept increasing; however, pH remained stable. Total nitrogen content decreased at first and then increased, whereas water-soluble nitrogen content increased initially and then began to decline slightly at the late stage of fermentation. Additionally, non-protein nitrogen content continued to rise at first and then began to decline at the medium stage of fermentation. Flavor amino acids were significantly generated during salting and at the mid to late stages of fermentation. The good tastes umami, richness and saltiness were constantly enhanced during the processing of Xuan’en ham, while sourness, bitterness and astringency showed the opposite trend.
