Precise nutritional labelling of sliced packaged dry-cured ham using multi-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

New consumer demands have increased the need for improved food processing and new value-added products that meet the latest quality standards. Changes in eating habits may lead to a preference for lower sodium products, making accurate labelling and nutritional claims important for the industry. The aim of this work was to study the application of Multi-energy X-ray absorptiometry (MEXA) for the determination of nutritional information in sliced packaged dry-cured ham for the industry. The effect of the acquisition conditions, the analysis approach, fat content and measured area of slices, as well as the potential of this technology for the inclusion of a verified 'salt reduced' nutritional claim, were analyzed in two industrial case studies. Two hundred and ten packets of sliced dry-cured ham were scanned using MEXA equipment. Two regions of interest were selected to study the effect of thickness on the model's precision. Salt content could be predicted with a RMSEP of 0.346% and 0.403% when acquisition conditions were 80 keV and 110 keV respectively. When used by the industry, the classification performance for a 'salt reduced' labelling claim depends on the mean salt content and heterogeneity of the company's production and on the threshold value selected for class definition. However, to support consumers personalized nutrition through precise labelling, implementation of MEXA technology together with labelling system is necessary.

Use and Understanding of Nutrition Labels: Impact of Diet Attachment.

Food labels may have an important function in communicating nutrition information and have considerable potential to influence food choice and dietary behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate Spanish consumers' reasons for reading or not reading nutrition information, their nutrition knowledge, perception and understanding of nutrition label information, and the possible impact of following a diet on all these. A 74-item questionnaire was developed to assess nutrition knowledge, attitude toward food labels, reasons for never reading nutrition information, food choice, the perceived importance of nutrition facts, and label-reading behavior. The results indicated that dietary patterns, nutrition knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics strongly influenced label use. Based on the participants' beliefs, four segments were identified for those who followed a diet and three segments for those who did not. Our study suggests that following a diet increases Spanish consumers' nutrition knowledge as well as their use of nutrition labels, although this cause-effect relationship could be reversed. Nonetheless, further studies would be necessary to clarify the causal direction.

Formation of Zn-protoporphyrin during the elaboration process of non-nitrified serrano dry-cured hams and its relationship with lipolysis.

This study assessed the ZnPP content, heme content, salt content, and instrumental color in the biceps femoris and semimembranosus muscles during the elaboration of Serrano dry-cured ham manufactured without the addition of nitrate and nitrite for 15 months. The effects of lipolysis and lipid oxidation on the content of Zn-protoporphyrin were also investigated in the biceps femoris. We found that the maximum formation of Zn-protoporphyrin occurred between end of resting and 6 months of processing, which coincides with temperature increase during processing and the end of salt equalization. Zn-protoporphyrin further increased in the biceps femoris until 9 months of processing but remained unchanged in the semimembranosus. Free fatty acid content increased till 6 months and then remained unchanged until the end of the process. These findings and those from an in vitro study reinforced the idea that the release of free fatty acids can promote the activity of the endogenous enzyme ferrochelatase and contribute to the formation of Zn-protoporphyrin from heme. However, the content of Zn-protoporphyrin decreased at the end of the processing, which may be due to the progression of lipid oxidation.

Correction: Grabez et al. Seaweed Inclusion in Finishing Lamb Diet Promotes Changes in Micronutrient Content and Flavour-Related Compounds of Raw Meat and Dry-Cured Leg (Fenalår). Foods 2022, 11, 1043.

"Alemayehu Kidane" was not included as an author in the original publication [...].

Seaweed Inclusion in Finishing Lamb Diet Promotes Changes in Micronutrient Content and Flavour-Related Compounds of Raw Meat and Dry-Cured Leg (Fenalår).

Innovative feeding strategies tend to improve the quality properties of raw material and dry-cured products. In the present study, Norwegian White female lambs (n = 24) were finished during 35 days on three different diets: control (CD), control supplemented with seaweed (5% DM) (SD), and pasture (PD). The quality of raw meat (Semimembranosus + Adductor) and deboned dry-cured lamb leg (fenalår; n = 24) was studied. The heme, SFA, MUFA, and PUFA content in raw meat was not affected with finishing diet. The SD significantly increased the selenium, iodine, and arsenic content in raw meat and in the dry-cured leg the iodine and arsenic. The dry-cured leg from SD-lamb had the highest amount of iodine with 130 µg I/100 g which corresponds to 60% of Adequate Intake. Aldehydes, ketones, and esters in raw meat and dry-cured lamb leg were significantly affected by finishing diet; CD showed increased esters in raw meat and aldehydes in the dry-cured leg compared to SD and PD. The significantly higher content of simple sugars, mannose being the most dominant, was found in the dry-cured leg from SD-lamb compared to CD and PD. Finishing diets had no effect on the taste profile of dry-cured lamb leg. This study showed the potential of seaweed in iodine biofortification of lamb meat and dry-cured products. Iodine-rich meat products should reduce iodine-deficiency among humans.

Effects of post mortem pH and salting time on Zinc-protoporphyrin content in nitrite-free Serrano dry-cured hams.

There is a growing demand for clean label products and thus the elimination of curing additives in various dry-cured meats is of interest while maintaining colour characteristics. This study was aimed to examine the effect of pH at 24 h post mortem (pHSM24h ≤ 5.4; 5.4 > pHSM24h < 5.9; pHSM24h ≥ 5.9) and salting time (standard vs reduced) on zinc-protoporphyrin content, heme content and other physicochemical parameters of Serrano dry-cured hams manufactured without the addition of curing agents. Results showed that in those hams with higher post mortem pH heme content was increased whereas ZnPP content and proteolysis index were decreased. Reduced salting time decreased salt content whereas ZnPP and heme contents remained unaffected. Lower post mortem pH and reduced salting time led to a higher content in various free fatty acids which, in turn, were found to correlate positively with ZnPP formation. However, the observed changes in heme and ZnPP contents had no effect on the instrumental color of the final product.

Zinc-protoporphyrin content in commercial Parma hams is affected by proteolysis index and marbling.

The contents of zinc-protoporphyrin (ZnPP) and heme in twenty-four sliced Parma hams made without the addition of curing agents were determined. Expressed on a dry weight basis, ZnPP averaged 45 mg/kg and ranged from 23 to 85 mg/kg. The heme content averaged 37 mg/kg on a dry matter basis and ranged from 17 to 73 mg/kg. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression analyses were carried out to examine the existing correlations between these pigments and various physicochemical parameters in the final product. PCA showed the existence of associations between ZnPP, sensory redness and salt content. PLS suggests that the conversion of ZnPP from heme is facilitated in those hams with a higher proteolysis index and higher marbling.

Adverse effects of organic arsenical compounds towards Vibrio fischeri bacteria.

The most frequently encountered forms of organic arsenic, namely, dimethylarsinic acid, monomethylarsonic acid, arsenobetaine, arsenocholine and Roxarsone (4-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzene arsonic acid) were tested for toxicity either by using the Microtox bioassay, based on the rapid (within 15 min) fading of luminescence emitted by Vibrio fischeri marine bacteria, or by monitoring growth rate of the same bacteria for 3 days. Organic arsenic was generally found to be less toxic to these biological models than inorganic arsenic. In many cases, EC50 values for DMA, MMA or HNAA when using luminescence or growth inhibition assays could not be determined because of the low toxicity of the compounds. Nevertheless, results from the luminescence inhibition assay, which was found to be more sensitive than the growth inhibition assay, allowed to rank toxicity as follows: arsenate at pH 8>HNAA at pH 5>arsenate at pH 5>MMA at pH 5>HNAA at pH 8>DMA at pH 5. Arsenobetaine and monomethylarsonic acid were unexpectedly found to stimulate bacterial growth (hormesis effect). pH was found to have a strong influence on the observed toxicity as a consequence of the pH-induced changes in the chemical speciation of the tested molecules. In most cases it appeared that negatively charged forms were less toxic than the uncharged ones.

Cr(VI) reduction into Cr(III) as a mechanism to explain the low sensitivity of Vibrio fischeri bioassay to detect chromium pollution.

Vibrio fischeri bacteria, used as a biological target in either acute or chronic toxicity tests, display a low sensitivity to Cr(VI). This phenomenon could be due to the capacity of these bacteria to reduce Cr(VI) into Cr(III). This reducing capacity was found to depend on culture medium composition, pH value, incubation time and the presence of a carbon source. It also depends on the nature of the carbon source, glucose being more efficient than glycerol. This is probably related to differences in bacterial metabolism when given either glucose or glycerol. The thermostable Cr(VI)-reducing activity found in the supernatants of V. fischeri cultures grown on glucose suggests that, under these conditions, the bacteria release non-proteic reducing substances which have not been identified yet.

Study on the toxicity of binary equitoxic mixtures of metals using the luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri as a biological target.

Results from two mathematical approaches to predict the toxicity of all the possible binary equitoxic mixtures of Co, Cd, Cu, Zn and Pb were compared to the observed toxicity of these mixtures to Vibrio fischeri bacteria. Combined effect of the metals was found to be antagonistic for Co-Cd, Cd-Zn, Cd-Pb and Cu-Pb, synergistic for Co-Cu and Zn-Pb and merely additive in other cases, revealing a complex pattern of possible interactions. Besides, Cd appears much less toxic to the bacterial model than to animal cells. The synergistic effect of the Co-Cu combination and the strong lowering of Pb toxicity in the presence of Cd deserve much attention when establishing environmental safety regulations.

Effect of temperature, high pressure and freezing/thawing of dry-cured ham slices on dielectric time domain reflectometry response.

Dielectric Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) is a useful technique for the characterization and classification of dry-cured ham according to its composition. However, changes in the behavior of dielectric properties may occur depending on environmental factors and processing. The effect of temperature, high pressure (HP) and freezing/thawing of dry-cured ham slices on the obtained TDR curves and on the predictions of salt and water contents when using previously developed predictive models, was evaluated in three independent experiments. The results showed that at temperatures below 20 °C there is an increase of the predicted salt content error, being more important in samples with higher water content. HP treatment caused a decrease of the reflected signal intensity due to the major mobility of available ions promoting an increase of the predicted salt content. Freezing/thawing treatment caused an increase of the reflected signal intensity due to the microstructural damages and the loss of water and ions, promoting a decrease of the predicted salt content.

Including estimated intramuscular fat content from computed tomography images improves prediction accuracy of dry-cured ham composition.

In recent years, computed tomography (CT) has been proposed as a method for the non-destructive prediction of salt content, water content and water activity (aw) in dry-cured ham. However, fat produces an important disturbance in the predictions. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of including an intramuscular fat content (IMF) estimate in the predictive models on the model predictability and CT tube voltage requirements. CT tomograms were obtained at three voltages. IMF was estimated by image analysis of CT tomograms obtained at the lowest voltage. By including an IMF estimate in the model, the prediction error was reduced by more than half in the water and aw predictions, but had little effect on the salt prediction. Additionally, the amount of CT voltages required in the predictive model decreased from three to two for salt and aw predictions.

Tools for studying dry-cured ham processing by using computed tomography.

An accurate knowledge and optimization of dry-cured ham elaboration processes could help to reduce operating costs and maximize product quality. The development of nondestructive tools to characterize chemical parameters such as salt and water contents and a(w) during processing is of special interest. In this paper, predictive models for salt content (R(2) = 0.960 and RMSECV = 0.393), water content (R(2) = 0.912 and RMSECV = 1.751), and a(w) (R(2) = 0.906 and RMSECV = 0.008), which comprise the whole elaboration process, were developed. These predictive models were used to develop analytical tools such as distribution diagrams, line profiles, and regions of interest (ROIs) from the acquired computed tomography (CT) scans. These CT analytical tools provided quantitative information on salt, water, and a(w) in terms of content but also distribution throughout the process. The information obtained was applied to two industrial case studies. The main drawback of the predictive models and CT analytical tools is the disturbance that fat produces in water content and a(w) predictions.