Quality characteristics of highly extended cook-in packaged ham as affected by replacement of sucrose by hydrolyzed corn starches and sorbitol

The color and microbiological stability during storage and retail display is important to both meat processors and retailers. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of replacing sucrose from sugar cane by hydrolyzed corn starch and sorbitol on the pH, water activity, psychrophilic plate count and objective color parameters (L, a* and b*) in highly extended cook-in ham. Ham muscles were injected to 170% of their initial weight, mechanically tenderized and tumbled for 4 h, after which they were vacuum packaged in extruded heat-shrinkable film and stored at 4oC. The sugarcane sucrose (4,8%) in the brine of the control treatment (CTL) was replaced by hydrolyzed corn starch (HCS, Corn Products) with different dextrose equivalent (10DE, 40DE and 100DE) values and sorbitol (S), totaling five treatments (CTL, HCS10, HCS40, HCS100 and S). Water activity, pH value, moisture content and psychrotrophic plate counts were determined at 0, 30, 45, and 100 days storage of the whole pieces, while evaluation of discoloration was performed on slices of the abovementioned products packaged in PVC films based on the CIE L*, a* and b* measurements after 0, 6 and 24 hours exposure to light. The lowest water activity and the highest pH values were detected in S, while HCS100 didn’t differ from S and showed the highest moisture content and the lowest drip loss values among treatments. CTL had the lowest pH value. The highest color stability was exhibited by HCS40. The lowest psychrotrophic counts were obtained in S (1.6 log CFU/g), and were not significantly different from HCS100 (1.8 log CFU/g), whereas the other treatments presented counts above 2 log CFU/g. Further studies with blends of HCS40, HCS100 and S might enhance the microbiological and color stability of this type of product. Keywords— Cooked ham, Dextrose equivalent, Sorbitol. INTRODUCTION Cooked ham marketed in highly extended cook-in packages have gained a significant share of the Brazilian market of processed meat products, with a total annual production of 174.000 metric tons in 2010. Hams of this category are normally added with a red coloring (carmine) to produce the pink color demanded by the Brazilian consumer. For the most part, these products are sold as one whole piece, sliced at the retail level and packed in PVC film. The color of meat products such as ham is of utmost importance to consumer acceptance. For that reason, color stability during storage and display in retail outlets is extremely relevant to both processors and retailers. In Brazil, the shelf life of this type of product is generally set at 90 days for the ham pieces in their original, unopened packaging. The objective of this study was to evaluate the technological performance of three corn starch hydrolysates with different degrees of hydrolysis, and sorbitol in cook-in ham, as compared to the traditional product made with saccharose, based on the determination of water activity, moisture content, pH value and growth of psychrotrophic microorganisms throughout 100 days storage of the whole ham pieces. MATERIAL AND METHODS Formulations and processing This study was conducted using a standard ham formulation yielding an end product weighing 170% of the raw material used, in this case pork leg meat. The different ham muscles obtained from the pork leg were injected with a brine solution and subsequently tenderized and followed by massaging in a tumbler for 57 International Congress of Meat Science and Technology, 7-12 August 2011, Ghent-Belgium