Physicochemical characterisation of restructured Fenalår and safety implications of salt and nitrite reduction

There is a new trend to produce dry-cured ham from lamb in shorter times by boning the ham before salting to later obtain restructured hams that are easier to dry and slice. However, little information about the physicochemical characteristics of Norwegian Fenalårs during the process or the safety implications of their elaboration procedures is reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to characterize the colour, texture and physicochemical properties of restructured Fenalårs when using Standard Salting (SS), Salt Reduced (SR) and a Non-Nitrite Salt Reduced (NNSR) treatments. Microbiological safety implications of the elaboration process when using the different salting treatments were also assessed using predictive microbiology. To do so, sixty Fenalårs were elaborated using a Standard Salting (SS), a Salt reduced (SR) and a Non-Nitrite Salt Reduced (NNSR) treatments. Physicochemical characterization (instrumental colour and texture and Zinc Protoporphyrin content) was performed at the end of the process using thirty Fenalårs. The rest of the Fenalårs were used to characterize the product through the elaboration process (pH and aw) for the evaluation of microbiological hazards when using the different salting treatments using predictive microbiology. Results showed a significant increase in softness when reducing salt content and a decrease of redness when no nitrite was used, attributed to the formation of ZnPP content instead of nitrosylmyoglobin. In terms of risk assessment, the decrease of aw through the elaboration process reduced the growth capacity of all the microorganisms evaluated. However, microbiological safety implications in salt reduced Fenalårs are important, especially when no nitrite was added, because the considerable increase of growth potential of L. monocytogenes. The increase of growth potential of proteolytic C. botulinum is very little and no relevant effect of nitrite on growth potential of S. aureus was observed.Predictive microbiology and optimization of the process to enhance ZnPP formation can help to ensure safety and quality of salt reduced restructured Fenalårs without additives.