CHEMICAL AND COLOR CHARACTERISTICS OF SPANISH DRY‐CURED HAM AT THE END OF THE AGING PROCESS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Chemical and color (CIELAB) attributes were measured in three muscles of dry‐cured hams: Semimembranosus (SM) , Semitendinosus (ST) and Biceps femoris (BF), at the end of the aging step, which represents the last month of the dry‐curing process. SM muscles showed the lowest values for all the chemical and color parameters except the a*/b* ratio while the BF muscles had the highest values except for the same a*/b* ratio. Differences were found in the moisture content, salt concentration, water activity, lightness, chroma, and the a*/b* ratio between the three muscles analysed. BF and ST muscles showed no differences for redness, yellowness and hue. Lightness was highly correlated with moisture and water activity values.