Handbook of Meat Processing

Cooked Ham 307

taste (Toldr á et al. 1995 ; Flores et al. 1998 ),

but the amount of released amino acids

depends on the extent of resting before

cooking.

Lipolysis is also favored by conditions

prior to cooking, especially when the the pH

is near neutral conditions. Fatty acids are

released during resting and initial cooking of

hams (Toldr á 2007 ). One or two days of

resting, prior to cooking, allows longer enzy-

matic action and larger amounts of released

amino acids and fatty acids that will act as

substrates for further chemical reactions (i.e.,

Strecker reactions) responsible for the gen-

eration of volatile compounds. As in the case

tions, mainly through proteolysis and lipoly-
sis, even though these enzymes have a
reduced time for action. Muscle proteases
and lipases contribute to the generation of
free amino acids and fatty acids, which have
some infl uence on taste and aroma.
The conditions within the hams (high
water activity, low salt content) are favorable
for proteolysis, but muscle protease enzymes
are sensitive to temperatures above 50 ° C and
thus, are rapidly inactivated during cooking
because their stability decreases rapidly
(Toldr á et al. 1992 ). In any case, there is
some generation of free amino acids by
muscle aminopeptidases that contribute to

A

B

Figure 16.3. Cross - section of cooked ham: (A) high - quality cooked ham in which the muscular integrity has
been respected and (B) low - quality where muscle integrity has been partly lost.