Effect of pH(24h), curing salts and muscle types on the oxidative stability, free amino acids profile and vitamin B2, B3 and B6 content of dry-cured ham.

The effects of a curing salt composition (with and without nitrifying salts), and the pH at 24h postmortem (pH24>6.0, 5.5<pH24<6.0 and pH24<5.5) were evaluated in the Semimembranosus (SM) and Biceps femoris (BF) muscles of pork legs for compositional and nutritional attributes at the end of dry-cured ham ageing. The muscles free amino acid profile (FAA) was not influenced by nitrifying salts. The pH24 was the factor which had the greatest consequences on the dry-cured ham characteristics analysed. The increase in nicotinamide and decrease in pyridoxine by curing salts and the decrease in both vitamins by pH24, had no major effect on the nutritional value of the dry-cured ham because the remaining amounts were within the intervals found in the nutritional data base for dry-cured ham. The results obtained suggested a cooperative action of vitamins B3 and B6 and the antioxidant enzyme system against oxidation. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were reduced by the addition of curing salts but were low in all cases, suggesting high antioxidant stability in dry-cured ham which was corroborated by the low volatile aldehyde contents.