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.

Evaluation and selection of yeasts as potential aroma enhancers for the production of dry-cured ham

Yeasts play a critical role in the flavor formation of dry-cured ham.In this study,41 yeast isolates from the dry-cured ham at different processing stages were evaluated for their technological properties.Debaryomyces hansenii was the most dominant yeast and has been detected at each phase of dry-cured ham,followed by Candida zeylanoides which was mainly detected in salting phase.Yarrowia bubula and Yarrowia alimentaria were found at the first two-phase of dry-cured ham.All isolates of yeast showed enzymatic activities against milk protein and tributyrin,while only 4 strains displayed proteolytic activity on meat protein.Yeast strains were grown in a meat model medium and volatile compounds were identified.The result showed that inoculated yeast strains could promote the production of volatiles and there were significant differences among strains.D.hansenii S25 showed the highest production of volatile compounds,followed by the strain C.zeylanoides C4.D.hansenii S25 was the highest producer of alcohols showing the highest production of benzeneethanol and 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol.Based on OAV and PLS analysis,D.hansenii S25 was strongly correlated with overall flavor and key volatile compounds of dry-cured ham,which could be selected as potential starter cultures.