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The profile of volatile compounds of a typical Spanish dry fermented sausage, chorizo de Pamplona, has been analyzed by GC-MS, using a simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE) system. Qualitative and quantitative differences were found in the volatile profiles obtained in the five analyzed commercial brands. One hundred and ninety three different substances were isolated, the group of acids being the most important from a quantitative point of view in all brands, accounting at least for the 60% of the total area. Aldehydes, basically from lipid oxidation, contributed between 7.72% and 13.97% to the total amount. Acids and aldehydes were the chemical families that showed the lowest variability among brands. In contrast, esters showed the highest coefficient of variation among brands (111%), followed by phenols (82%) and terpenes (76%). The variability observed in these three families could be attributed respectively to the different starter cultures, smoking process and spices employed in their production.Butylated hydroxytoluene (added as an antioxidant, E-321) was the third most abundant compound in 3 of the 5 brands.

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Wastewater from olive oil mills has been treated by means of the Fe(II)/H 2 O 2 system (Fenton's reagent). Typical operating variables such as reagent concentration (C H2O2 ) 1.0-0.2 M; C Fe(II) ) 0.01-0.1 M) and temperature (T ) 293-323 K) exerted a positive influence on the chemical oxygen demand and total carbon removal. The optimum working pH was found to be in the range 2.5-3.0. The exothermic nature of the process involved a significant increase of the temperature of the reaction media. The process was well simulated by a semiempirical reaction mechanism based on the classic Fenton chemistry. From the model, the reaction between ferric iron and hydrogen peroxide [k ) 1.8 × 10 15 exp((-12577 ( 1248)/T)] was suggested to be the controlling step of the system. Also, the simultaneous inefficient decomposition of hydrogen peroxide [k ) 6.3 × 10 12 exp((-11987 ( 2414)/ T)] into water and oxygen was believed to play an important role in the process. On the basis of stoichiometric calculations for hydrogen peroxide consumption, an estimation of the process economy has been completed.

SummaryAn excessive intake of meat products, particularly dry fermented sausages, is not recommended from a healthy point of view, at least for some groups of population, due to their high level of sodium and animal fat. Many efforts of the meat industry are focussed on the development of new products with better nutritional properties than traditional ones. KCl, CaCl 2 , and/or calcium ascorbate, among others, have been assayed as partial substitutes of NaCl, obtaining products with acceptable sensory quality, supplying smaller amounts of sodium and being sometimes a significant source of potassium or calcium. In relation to fat, last researches are focused on the use of different types of fibres and vegetable oils as partial substitutes of pork backfat. The use of fibres results in low-fat and low energetic products. The use of vegetable oils results in products with healthier fatty acid profiles. Aspects related with improving sensory properties and control of oxidation process should be taken into account in future researches.2