title: Effect of starter cultures and packaging methods on amino acid profile and eating quality characteristics of pork ham.
abstract: Wet cured pork hams were inoculated with a mixed starter cultures comprising of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Micrococcus varians M483 at the dose level of 106 cfu/g and the un inoculated hams served as controls. The amino acid profile of hams of the treated and the control groups stored at 4oC under MAP and VP and evaluated on 60th day of storage revealed that treated hams liberated higher concentration of free amino acids except for proline and methionine which were found in higher concentration (P < 0.01) in the MAP control samples. The MAP control samples liberated glutamic acid (85.65 ± 1.40 ppm), cystine (21.56 ± 1.14 ppm) and tyrosine (16.63 ± 1.94 ppm) whereas, the treated samples did not release these amino acids. The VP control samples too liberated cystine (6.98 ± 1.36 ppm) and arginine (42.70 ± 2.78 ppm) but the treated ham of the VP did not liberate these amino acids. The VP hams had higher concentration (P < 0.01) of free proline, glycine, alanine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, lysine and histidine than the MAP samples. Colour analysis of ham using CIE Lab colour system revealed that the treated samples had significantly higher concentrations of L*, a* and b* components. The L* and a* values were higher in the MAP than under VP systems while the b* values were higher in the VP samples than the MAP samples. Neither the bacterial cultures nor the packaging system influenced the textural property of ham. Starter cultures inoculated hams were rated superior (P < 0.05) in terms of their sensory properties. Hams packaged under MAP were rated superior (P < 0.05) than those packaged under VP in terms of appearance, colour, taste, tenderness, flavour, juiciness and overall acceptability.
authors.affiliation: AICRP on Post Harvest Technology, Department of Livestock Products Technology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati 781 022 India.
authors.forename: Protiva
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gogoi
authors.affiliation: AICRP on Post Harvest Technology, Department of Livestock Products Technology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati 781 022 India.
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Borpuzari
authors.affiliation: AICRP on Post Harvest Technology, Department of Livestock Products Technology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati 781 022 India.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Borpuzari
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati 781 022 India.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hazarika
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati 781 022 India.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Bora
keywords: Free amino acid; Ham; Modified atmosphere; Packaging; Starter cultures; Vacuum packaging