Effects of 17 performance, carcass and raw ham quality parameters on ham weight loss at first salting in heavy pigs, a meat quality indicator for the production of high quality dry-cured hams

Stefania Dall'Olio; Gizella Aboagye; Leonardo Nanni Costa; Maurizio Gallo; Luca Fontanesi

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.108012

Effects of 17 performance, carcass and raw ham quality parameters on ham weight loss at first salting in heavy pigs, a meat quality indicator for the production of high quality dry-cured hams

Meat Sci. 2020 Apr:162:108012. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.108012. Epub 2019 Nov 23.

Authors

Stefania Dall'Olio¹, Gizella Aboagye², Leonardo Nanni Costa², Maurizio Gallo³, Luca Fontanesi²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), Division of Animal Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 46, 40127 Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: stefania.dallolio@unibo.it.
² Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), Division of Animal Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 46, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
³ Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Suini, Via Nizza 53, 00198 Roma, Italy.

PMID: 31816517
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.108012

Abstract

Ham weight loss at first salting (HWLFS) is a meat quality parameter used to assess the suitability of the hams for salting and seasoning. The relationships between HWLFS and 17 performance, carcass and raw ham quality parameters were investigated in 260 performance tested Italian Large White heavy pigs. HWLFS was affected by slaughter day and visible intermuscular fat of trimmed hams whereas sex did not affect its variability. Residual correlations of HWLFS with backfat thickness (BFT; r = -0.51) and lean cuts (LC; r = +0.51) were stronger than with ham weight at trimming (r = +0.40) and after first salting (r = +0.37). Significant correlations of HWLFS with fresh ham quality traits ranged from +0.16 to -0.25. BFT, LC and pH_24h were the main predictors of HWLFS in the regression model. Results from this study indicated that higher ham fat coverage and pH_24h and lower LC could reduce HWLFS of green hams for Protected Designation of Origin products.

Keywords: Ham quality; Ham weight loss at first salting; Heavy pig; Italian Large White; Phenotypic correlations.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue
Animals
Female
Food Handling / methods*
Italy
Male
Meat Products / standards*
Muscle, Skeletal
Pork Meat / analysis*
Pork Meat / standards
Sodium Chloride / chemistry
Sus scrofa

Substances

Sodium Chloride