The effect of coating incorporated with black pepper essential oil on the lipid deterioration and aroma quality of Jinhua ham

Abstract

Jinhua ham is a popular traditional dry-cured meat product in China and South-east Asia and highly susceptible to quality deterioration during storage. Coating incorporated with black pepper essential oil was applied to suppress lipid deterioration and improve the aroma quality of Jinhua hams. Four treatments of without coating (CK), base formula coating (BC), BC + low concentration BPEO (0.05%) (LCBPEO) and BC + high concentration BPEO (0.1%) (HCBPEO) were used for the coating of hams. The samples were analyzed for lipolysis, lipid oxidation, volatile compounds and aroma sensory after 4 months of storage at room temperature. Results showed that HCBPEO decreased (p < 0.05) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (17.39–52.17%), LCBPEO and HCBPEO decreased (p < 0.05) lipolytic enzymes (23.94–603.57%) and lipoxygenase activities (25.58–94.29%), volatile compounds derived from lipid oxidation (47.01–115.10%), while increased (p < 0.05) contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids (18.26–43.59%) and total fatty acids (5.43–7.43%), compared with CK and BC during storage. LCBPEO and HCBPEO have higher scores (p < 0.05) of the overall aroma compared to CK and BC; We concluded that LCBPEO and HCBPEO treatments have potential to suppress lipid deterioration and improve the score of the overall aroma of dry-cured meat products during storage.