Application of non-invasive technologies in dry-cured ham: An overview

Publication date: Available online 8 February 2019Source: Trends in Food Science & TechnologyAuthor(s): Cristina Pérez-Santaescolástica, Ilse Fraeye, Francisco J. Barba, Belen Gómez, Igor Tomasevic, Alberto Romero, Andrés Moreno, Fidel Toldrá, Jose M. LorenzoAbstractBackgroundDry-cured ham is one of the most valued food products by Mediterranean consumers. In this sense, the appropriate development of its different production stages is essential to ensure the quality requirements. For this reason, non-invasive technologies have gained popularity and have been reported as useful not only to ensure the food safety of different products, but also to monitor fundamental stages in the production process, such as the salting stage, to analyze the content of different compounds without sample losses, and to correct possible defects in the final product.Scope and approachThis work has been focused on summarizing the studies that describe and have successfully applied these techniques, as well as on mentioning other technologies with potential use in dry-cured ham manufacture which have not been studied enough. Finally, the potential next steps to improve and optimize the process, as well as the suitability of creating new products with added value based on the new quality standards, have also been evaluated.Key findings and conclusionsInnovative non-invasive technologies such as high pressure (HP), ultrasound (US), pulsed electric fields (PEF), microwaves, irradiation, etc. can ...

Source: Trends in Food Science and Technology - February 9, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research