Spanish “Serrano” dry-cured hams were processed under traditional practices which included two different length of the ripening−drying stage dry-curing methods. Dry-cured hams typically have high production cost because of the length of the ripening−drying stage which makes the product less competitive. In order to study the generation of dry-cured ham flavor the volatile components were investigated. Sensory properties were analyzed by GC/olfactometry and descriptive sensory techniques. The relationship of the volatile components with sensory descriptors was examined by factor analysis and resulted in a solution composed of four factors defined as “pork”, “cured”, “pleasant”, and “off-flavor”. The short ripening process was characterized by aldehydes, such as hexanal and 3-methyl butanal, alcohol (1-penten-3-ol), and dimethyl disulfide, that gave an olfactory sensation of fresh-cured pork flavor. The “pleasant” aroma in the short process had already been developed and was defined by ketones, esters, pyrazines, and aromatic hydrocarbons. On the other hand, the longer ripening−drying procedure produced an increase in “pork”, “cured” and “off-flavor” that masked the “pleasant” aroma. Keywords: Dry-cured ham; ripening; volatile compound; pork flavor; aged flavor

Changes in the content of carbonyl-and sulfur-containing compounds were determined for ground beef patties stored at 4 °C for 0-4 days. Volatile compounds were isolated by using distillation-extraction techniques and analyzed by using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. During storage, the

While it is known that meat flavor varies as a function of end-point cooking temperature, storage time, and activity of endogenous hydrolytic enzymes, little is known about the interrelationship of these three factors with flavor. Several endogenous enzymes and proteins with potential involvement in meat flavor were investigated. The data indicate two main observations: (1) enzymes are redistributed to new intracellular compartments during postmortem aging. (2) enzyme activity is temperature dependent over the range examined (20-80°C) with some enzymes such as cathepsins, B & L retaining a high level of activity (>20% of that at 20°C) at temperatures above 70°C. Thus, the combined effect of postmortem aging and cooking, via enzyme redistribution and enzyme activity, respectively, influence the production of flavor compounds and precursors.