Physicochemical characterisation of restructured Fenalår and safety implications of salt and nitrite reduction

Abstract

There is a new trend to produce dry-cured ham from lamb in shorter times by boning the ham before salting to later obtain restructured hams that are easier to dry and slice. However, little information about the physicochemical characteristics of Norwegian Fenalårs during the process or the safety implications of their elaboration procedures is reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to characterize the colour, texture and physicochemical properties of restructured Fenalårs when using Standard Salting (SS), Salt Reduced (SR) and a Non-Nitrite Salt Reduced (NNSR) treatments. Microbiological safety implications of the elaboration process when using the different salting treatments were also assessed using predictive microbiology. To do so, sixty Fenalårs were elaborated using a Standard Salting (SS), a Salt reduced (SR) and a Non-Nitrite Salt Reduced (NNSR) treatments. Physicochemical characterization (instrumental colour and texture and Zinc Protoporphyrin content) was performed at the end of the process using thirty Fenalårs. The rest of the Fenalårs were used to characterize the product through the elaboration process (pH and aw) for the evaluation of microbiological hazards when using the different salting treatments using predictive microbiology. Results showed a significant increase in softness when reducing salt content and a decrease of redness when no nitrite was used, attributed to the formation of ZnPP content instead of nitrosylmyoglobin. In terms of risk assessment, the decrease of aw through the elaboration process reduced the growth capacity of all the microorganisms evaluated. However, microbiological safety implications in salt reduced Fenalårs are important, especially when no nitrite was added, because the considerable increase of growth potential of L. monocytogenes. The increase of growth potential of proteolytic C. botulinum is very little and no relevant effect of nitrite on growth potential of S. aureus was observed. Predictive microbiology and optimization of the process to enhance ZnPP formation can help to ensure safety and quality of salt reduced restructured Fenalårs without additives.

Seaweed Inclusion in Finishing Lamb Diet Promotes Changes in Micronutrient Content and Flavour-Related Compounds of Raw Meat and Dry-Cured Leg (Fenalår)

“…Finishing diet had no significant effect ( p > 0.05) on heme content and colour (L*, a* and b* values) of dry-cured leg (having mean values of L* = 32.29, a* = 11.38, and b* = 4.15). This is in agreement with previous studies on deboned fenalår [ 2 ].…”

“…All raw deboned legs were thawed at 15 ℃ for 24 h and processed the same day. Standard salting procedure for deboned fenalår production was used [ 2 ] with some modifications; i.e., due to lack of raw material, raw ham from only one leg without SM+ADD was used in a production. In brief, each raw leg was manually rubbed using fine salt, netted and individually salted (4.8 g of salt/100 g raw meat and 144 ppm nitrite) in vacuum shrink bags (polyamide/EVO/polyethylene; oxygen permeability of 12 cc/m 2 /24 h at 23 °C, 0% RH and 1 atm and a water permeability of 8 g/m 2 /24 h at 38 °C, 90% RH and 1 atm; Bemis ® Company Inc., Sheboygan Falls, USA).…”

“…The traditional Norwegian dry-cured meat product “Fenalår fra Norge” is awarded the Protected Geographical Indication [ 1 ]. The traditional production of fenalår implies salting and curing of bone-in lamb or sheep leg, while nowadays, industrial production is more oriented towards deboning and netting the legs before salting [ 2 ]. A deboned fenalår is an easy-to-slice product and the slices are packed in consumer-friendly packages with standardized weight and shape [ 2 ].…”

Sheep and Goat Meat Processed Products Quality: A Review

“…However, the nitrite contents in the pâtés and cured hams were lower than the maximum recommended by the FAO [87], and the European Union allowed their inclusion as food additives [88]. Microbiological safety implications in salt-reduced Fenalår was shown to be important [89], especially when no nitrite was added, because of the considerable increase of the growth potential of L. monocytogenes.…”

Processing parameters involved in the development of texture and tyrosine precipitates in dry-cured ham: Modelisation of texture development

“…The texture of dry-cured ham is one of the most important quality criteria for consumer acceptability and is of interest for the industry (Cilla, et al, 2005;Schivazappa, C. & Virgili, R. 2020). The main texture defects are excessive softness (Parolari, Virgili & Schivazappa, 1994) and pastiness which are mainly related to raw material characteristics such as pH, genetics and fat content (García-Rey et al, 2004;García-Rey, Quiles-Zafra & Luque de Castro, 2006;Carcò et al, 2019;Candek-Potokar, M. & Skrlep, M. 2012) and processing conditions such as temperature, time and salt content Coll-Brasas et al, 2021). A proteolysis activity contributes to texture development by breaking down the muscle structure (Monin et al, 1997).…”