M. Flores et al., NONVOLATILE COMPONENTS EFFECTS ON QUALITY OF SERRANO DRY-CURED HAM ASRELATED TO PROCESSING TIME, Journal of food science, 62(6), 1997, pp. 1235-1239
Following long dry-curing periods, Spanish ''Serrano'' ham develops a
specific ''dry-cured ham'' flavor. To determine the effects of length
of curing on flavor generation, replicate hams were processed for 7 or
12 mo prior to amino acid, peptide, and flavor evaluation by reverse
phase HPLC, capillary zone electrophoresis, and sensory analysis, resp
ectively Generation of dry-cured and pork flavors correlated with the
accumulation of amino acids. The relation of these components with sen
sory descriptors was examined by factor analysis. Results indicated th
at combinations and proportions of taste-active components produced th
e specific dry-cured flavor characteristic rather than an accumulation
of any single flavor component.