CORRELATIONS OF SENSORY AND VOLATILE COMPOUNDS OF SPANISH SERRANO DRY-CURED HAM AS A FUNCTION OF 2 PROCESSING TIMES

Spanish ''Serrano'' dry-cured hams were processed under traditional pr actices which included two different length of the ripening-drying sta ge dry-curing methods. Dry-cured hams typically have high production c ost because of the length of the ripening-drying stage which makes the product less competitive. In order to study the generation of dry-cur ed ham flavor the volatile components were investigated. Sensory prope rties were analyzed by GC/olfactometry and descriptive sensory techniq ues. The relationship of the volatile components with sensory descript ors was examined by factor analysis and resulted in a solution compose d of four factors defined as ''pork'', ''cured'', ''pleasant'', and '' off-flavor''. The short ripening process was characterized by aldehyde s, such as hexanal and S-methyl butanal, alcohol (1-penten-3-ol), and dimethyl disulfide, that gave an olfactory sensation of fresh-cured po rk flavor. The ''pleasant'' aroma in the short process had already bee n developed and was defined by ketones, esters, pyrazines, and aromati c hydrocarbons. On the other hand, the longer ripening-drying procedur e produced an increase in ''pork'', ''cured'' and ''off-flavor'' that masked the ''pleasant'' aroma.