title: Development of potentiometric equipment for the identification of altered dry-cured hams: A preliminary study.
abstract: Microbiological contamination in dry-cured ham can occur in the early stages of the process, a large number of microorganisms involved in spoilage can produce alterations in the product. These include non-common odours, which are detected at the end of the process by a procedure called "cala", consisting of a sharp instrument punctured in every ham; this is smelled by an expert taster, who classifies hams as good and altered hams. An electronic device would be suitable for this process given the large amount of hams. The present research aims to develop objective equipment based on the potentiometry technique that identifies altered hams. A probe was developed, containing silver, nickel and copper electrodes, and was employed to classify altered and unaltered hams prior to classification by a tester. The results shown lower Ag and higher Cu potential values for altered hams. The differences in potentiometric response reveal a classification model, although further studies are required to obtain a reliable classification model.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Tecnología de Alimentos, Universidad Politécnica Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: ljgironh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Girón
authors.affiliation: Centro de Reconocimiento Molecular y Desarrollo Tecnológico (IDM), Unidad Mixta Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Universidad de Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gil-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Reconocimiento Molecular y Desarrollo Tecnológico (IDM), Unidad Mixta Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Universidad de Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: García-Breijo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Tecnología de Alimentos, Universidad Politécnica Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: M Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pagán
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Tecnología de Alimentos, Universidad Politécnica Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Barat
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Tecnología de Alimentos, Universidad Politécnica Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000295:instrumentation*; D063427:Food Quality; D057141:Food, Preserved / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D006088:Gram-Negative Aerobic Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology; D050296:Microbial Viability; D008835:Micrococcaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011199:Potentiometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013030:Spain; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013848:Thigh
keywords: Dry-cured ham; Microbiological ham quality; Potentiometry; Principal component analysis