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HEADSPACE VOLATILES OF DRY‐CURED HAM: A COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT MANUFACTURING STYLES BY SPME AND GC/MS ANALYSIS
Author(s) -
LAMMERS MICHAEL,
DIETZE KLAAS,
TERNES WALDEMAR
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of food processing and preservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1745-4549
pISSN - 0145-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2011.00538.x
Subject(s) - maillard reaction , chemistry , solid phase microextraction , aroma , chromatography , gas chromatography , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , mass spectrometry , food science
Headspace volatiles of Iberian, Italian, industrially manufactured and German handcrafted dry‐cured ham were extracted by means of a solid phase microextraction device. Compounds were separated and identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. Semi‐quantitative data were obtained as the ratio of monitored headspace volatiles. Forty volatiles arising from lipid oxidation, Maillard reaction or additives were monitored. Lipid oxidation products are main compounds in the headspace of all hams. Unsaturated aldehydes are more important in the Iberian and Italian hams subjected to long ripening. As 5‐butyldihydro‐2(3 H )‐furanone was found only in these products, this might be considered a quality parameter. The headspace concentrations of some Maillard products were found to be higher in Iberian and Italian hams. In industrially manufactured and German handcrafted hams, headspace volatiles included compounds deriving from additives. A significantly higher ratio of benzmethanol in the headspace of Iberian ham seems to be related to the acorn diet of Iberian pigs. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This study applies a straightforward analytical method to identify the headspace volatiles of a commonly available selection of dry‐cured hams representing a wide variety of raw materials and manufacturing styles. The solid phase microextraction technique used here can easily be repeated and is suitable for routine analysis and quality monitoring. This method could thus be a helpful tool both to improve the manufacturing process and to monitor specific quality parameters. While most publications on the aroma of dry‐cured hams focus on a single product or on a selection of similar products, this study investigated very different hams in order to obtain very basic data to help clarify what makes the individual product unique and identify flavor compounds which could be key components of the specific aroma and thus important quality parameters.