Elucidation of potential relationship between endogenous proteases and key flavor substances in dry-cured pork coppa

Dry-cured meat products are considerably popular around the world due to unique flavor.Proteolysis is one of the enzymatic reactions from which flavor substances are derived,which is affected by endogenous proteases.The purpose aimed to reveal the potential relationship between endogenous proteases and key flavor substances in dry-cured pork coppa in this paper.The dynamic changes of endogenous proteases activity,free amino acids,and volatiles during dry-cured pork coppa processing were characterized.The results showed that 5 kinds of free amino acids,Glu,Lys,Val,Ala,and Leu,were identified as significant contributors to taste.Meanwhile,key volatiles,such as hexanal,nonanal,octanal,benzaldehyde,3-methyl butanoic acid,2-methyl propanoic acid,and ethyl octanoate,greatly contributed to the flavor characteristics of dry-cured pork coppa.Further partial correlation analysis was performed to better elucidate the relationship among parameters.The results revealed that close relationship between endogenous proteases and key substances.RAP not only significantly affected the accumulation of key active-amino acids,but also affected the accumulation of ethyl octanoate,2,3-pentanedione,and 2,3-octanedione by regulating the accumulation of octanoic acid and Leu.In addition,cathepsin B and D,DPP II,DPP IV and RAP notably affected accumulation of hexanal.

Flavor release from traditional dry-cured pork during oral processing

The rate of flavor release in the mouth from traditional dry-cured pork was evaluated in this study.It was hypothesized that a slow steady release of flavor would occur on chewing and hydration.To test this,high salt dry-cured pork was chewed and held in oral cavity without swallowing for 4 different chewing stages(B,NC_(30),C_(30),EC).Saliva and food bolus from 16 healthy subjects were collected during oral processing,and analyzed for saliva flow rate,total saliva protein content,saliva pH,conductivity,saliva and sodium,and taste components.Results show that oral processing behavior and salivary release have important effects on flavor release of dry-cured pork.Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE)analysis showed that oral processing has a certain effect on the protein composition and concentration in saliva.This study suggests that the interaction between food and saliva that accompanies chewing can lead to significant changes in sensory perception during oral processing.