## 3 Results and Discussion
### Evaluation of Volatile Compounds during the Processing of Smoked Dry-Cured Ham
The results agreed with other studies that reported that aldehydes as the major compounds in Iberian, Serrano, Parma, Bayonne, and Corsican dry-cured hams [12]. Their content decreased after the drying and ripening phase due to the increase of phenols, especially in the SM muscle. This is in agreement with other authors who found that the aldehydes percentage decreased during the final stages of dry-cured ham processing [8; 48]. Regarding the influence of muscle type, this difference was notable after the drying and ripening phases, where aldehydes were present in a greater percentage in BF (49.72 and 38.29%) than in SM (22.22 and 18.74%) muscle. Aldehydes are known to be the main contributors to the unique flavor of dry-cured ham due to their low thresholds and abundance [10]. The most abundant linear aldehydes in smoked dry-cured ham were hexanal, nonanal, octanal, heptanal, and pentanal, which are related to the auto-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids [49]. Among the linear aldehydes, hexanal was the most abundant, contributing in small amounts to the overall aroma of ham with grassy and fresh notes, but in high concentrations leading to an unpleasant rancid aroma [10]. The different behavior in the two muscles during processing was notable after the drying and the ripening phases, where it was present in higher amounts in BF muscle (39.22 and 10.90%). This difference could be related to the different salt contents in the two muscles, especially after ripening phase. The BF muscle had higher contents (17.55 vs. 11.20% of DM for BF and SM muscles, respectively) because of salt diffusion throughout the ham. Furthermore, [PERSON] et al. (2016) [1] found that samples of smoked dry-cured ham at the end of ripening with higher NaCl content had lower content of aldehydes, which is consistent with our results: the higher the NaCl content during the production process, the lower the aldehyde content. These findings are consistent with the results of other studies on dry-cured ham, which found that the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids to volatile carbonated compounds is favored in the inner part of the ham, where the higher salt content has a prooxidant role [8; 50]. Branched and aromatic aldehydes are formed mainly by the degradation of amino acids. 2-Methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, benzaldehyde and benzeneacetaldehyde are very important because of their contribution to the overall aroma of dry-cured ham. Both benzaldehyde and benzeneacetaldehyde increase throughout the production process and are characterized by unpleasant bitter aroma and almond notes. 2-Methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal followed the same trend. 2-Methylbutanal is associated with nutty, cheessy, and salty notes, while 3-methylbutanal is characterized by fruity, acorn, and cheesy notes [10]. The mentioned branched and aromatic aldehydes showed significant differences between muscles after ripening and had higher amounts in BF muscle than in SM (except benzeneacetaldehyde). The unsaturated aldehydes like 2,4-nonadienal, 2E-decanal, tetradecanal, pentadecanal, hexadecanal, and 9-octadecanal were found only after the ripening phase and were present in higher amounts in BF muscle. After aldehydes, phenols were the predominant group of compounds with the highest number of volatile compounds (20). Phenols are characteristic compounds of smoked dry-cured ham, especially in Croatian Dalmatinski and Drniski prsut types of smoked dry-cured hams, and are responsible for the unique aroma of smoked meat products. Due to their low threshold, they have a significant influence on the final aroma of the product [51]. The amounts of phenolic compounds are shown in Table 5. As can be seen, a significant difference in phenolic compounds was observed after the smoking phase when 8 phenols were detected, after drying, 10, and after the ripening phase, 18. The type of muscle also influenced the phenol content: SM had higher amounts of phenols than BF due to its external location and exposure to smoking.