Abstract
This study aimed to use chemometrics to evaluate the influence of lipid and protein oxidation on the color and texture characteristics of Brazilian dry-cured loin (Socol, BDL). Upon exploration using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), two clusters were formed, indicating that higher water activity (aw) was associated with higher lipid and protein oxidation. However, this fact was associated with softening and low color quality (a*, chroma, and cured color). In a more in-depth exploration, using principal component analysis (PCA) for each cluster separately, connections between protein and lipid oxidation were found in high aw, as demonstrated by their statistical association. In the same way, relationships between high hardness and carbonyl contents were obtained only in high aw. In addition, an overall relationship (p < 0.05) between nondestructive measurements, such as hardness, and destructive methods (malonaldehyde and carbonyl contents) demonstrate that nondestructive techniques can be promising for further studies in the method replacement field. In this study, reasonable explanations of the connections between oxidative damage and quality traits in Socol are provided.
Highlights
Due to their low water activity, dry-cured meats have been considered to be chemically and microbiologically stable products [1,2]
The samples included in the cluster 1 presented lower values (p < 0.05) of aw, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and carbonyls but presented higher values (p < 0.05) of hardness, gumminess, chewiness, a*, b*, chroma, R(630/580), and cured color compared to the cluster 2 counterparts
Brazilian dry-cured loin (BDL) presents no nitrite or nitrate addition and is an uncooked product, the values found in the present study indicate the noticeable intensity of cured color in samples classified in LWA cluster
Summary
Due to their low water activity (aw ), dry-cured meats have been considered to be chemically and microbiologically stable products [1,2]. The macromolecular crowding of lipids and proteins with pro-oxidants due to dehydration as well as processing and storage conditions makes the product susceptible to oxidative reactions leading to the deterioration of this matrix [3,4]. High protein oxidation levels are not desirable, as they contribute to the impaired color and texture of dry-cured products [4] and the loss of protein functionality [7]. They cause adverse implications to the consumer’s health [8,9]. Protein oxidation in meat and meat products was neglected for decades, when compared to lipid oxidation [6,10]
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