Abstract
This study was proposed following the strategy of the meat sector to reduce sodium intake through applying different salting processes instead of the traditional method. Therefore, the influence of two salting treatments (with 50% and 55% of NaCl replacement by other chloride salts) on the chemical, physicochemical, proteolysis and lipolysis of foal cecinas was evaluated and compared to those cecinas salted with a traditional procedure. Regarding physicochemical parameters, cecinas treated with CaCl2 and MgCl2 increased the lipid oxidation and luminosity, while decreased the redness. The highest contents of protein and the lowest of moisture were obtained in cecinas salted with 50% KCl, while the NaCl content was dramatically reduced by the experimental batches (4.25 and 3.40 g/100 g) in comparison with control samples (7.73 g/100 g). The values of texture (hardness) did not reflect differences among batches. The content of free amino acids increased with NaCl replacement. In fact, data suggests that NaCl had more inhibitory power on the proteolytic enzymes than the other salts. On the contrary, lipolytic phenomenon showed lower differences among treatments (mainly individual PUFA). However, these variations could be related to the higher oxidation observed in the samples with NaCl replacement. On the other hand, the substitution of NaCl by other salts had an important influence in mineral contents. The main objective, which is the reduction of sodium intake, was achieved. Nevertheless, a sensory study should carry out to observe how aforementioned changes affect the organoleptic quality of the final product and the consumer's acceptability.
Keywords: Horsemeat, Free amino acids, Free fatty acids, Lipid oxidation, Cured meat product
Introduction
Salting with sodium chloride (NaCl) was widely employed since ancient times to preserve meat products because it contributes to achieve a characteristic flavour and provides dietary sodium, gives microbial stability and improves proteins solubility (Ripollés et al. 2011; Wu et al. 2014). Nevertheless, some studies reveal that high levels of NaCl intake promote several diseases. Therefore, global health organizations have proposed to progressively reduce their use. In concordance with this proposal, today the current trend is to offer consumers healthier food products with low salt content without losing theirs quality (Ripollés et al. 2011; Wu et al. 2014).
The use of other salts to reduce sodium content were study in a previous researches and link it with different physicochemical, chemical and biochemical parameters, proteolysis, lipolysis and sensorial characteristics in dry-cured meats products like ham (Aliño et al. 2010a; Armenteros et al. 2012; Ripollés et al. 2011), pork loins (Armenteros et al. 2009a, b); sausages (Dos Santos et al. 2017), “lacón” (Garrido et al. 2014; Lorenzo et al. 2015a) and bacon (Wu et al. 2014, 2016). However, there are hardly any studies of this type of dry-cured cecina (Lorenzo et al. 2015b).
Potassium chloride is the most common salt substitute, however at high amounts it impart bitter flavour. Therefore the use of calcium and magnesium chlorides was proposed as another alternative. Additionally, the use of these salts could provide an important opportunity for calcium/magnesium supplementation, which prevent some diseases as osteoporosis or hypertension. In fact, international organizations recommend in adults an intake of 1000 mg/day of calcium and 207–360 mg/day of magnesium (FAO/WHO 2001). Nonetheless, the use of mixtures with low sodium content imply significant changes in technological properties and influenced steps as salting, post-salting and ripening processes (Aliño et al. 2010a). All in all, the present study was proposed through the use of potassium to reduce sodium and also the substitution of NaCl by mixture of potassium/magnesium/calcium to achieve both, reduction in sodium and enrichment of the product in calcium and magnesium salts.
Cecina is a salted, smoked and dried meat product widely consumed in Spain, elaborated in similar way to the dry-cured ham (Lorenzo 2014). In addition, the variety of benefits reported for equine meat, the increasing demand for healthier meat products as well as the scarcity of studies in dry-cured foal cecina, this study was realised to evaluate the effect of partial sodium replacement with magnesium chloride, calcium, and potassium salts on the chemical and physical properties, lipolysis, proteolysis and mineral composition of dry-cured foal cecina.
Materials and methods
Cecina elaboration
A total of thirty-six knuckles (3.98 ± 0.92 kg) from Galician Mountain (GM) × Burguete (BU) foals were employed. Pieces were randomly divided into three groups. Raw samples were salted by immersing them in a saturated brine (9 kg of salt mixtures dissolved in 30 L of water). Cecinas from the treatment I were salted with NaCl (100% NaCl), whereas the treatment II was salted with 50% NaCl and 50% KCl and the treatment III was salted with 45% NaCl, 25% KCl, 20% CaCl2 and 10% MgCl2. All foal cecinas were salted 1 days/kg at 2–5 °C and relative humidity (RH) between 85 and 90% (weight at the end of salting stage: 3.86 ± 0.05 kg). After the salting stage the cecinas were washed and transferred to a post-salting room (40 days at 2–5 °C and 85–90% RH). Then, cecinas were smoked using oak wood in a cooking-smoking chamber (Jugema, mod. KWE-1, Industrial Fluerpla S.L., Valencia, Spain) at 25 °C during 2 h and then were transferred to a room at 14–16 °C and 75–78% RH where a dry-curing process took place for 75 days. At the end of the dry-cured process, all samples were analysed.
Proximate composition and physicochemical analysis
The pH of the samples was determinated using a digital portable meat pH-meter (Hanna Instruments, Eibar, Spain) connected to a probe with a stainless-steel penetration blade. Colour parameters [lightness, (L*); redness, (a*); yellowness, (b*)] were determinated using a portable colorimeter (Konica Minolta CM-600d, Osaka, Japan) with a pulsed xenon arc lamp filtered to illuminant D65 lighting conditions, 0° viewing angle geometry and 8 mm aperture size. Protein, moisture and ash were assessed following the ISO recommended standards (ISO 937: 1978, ISO 1442: 1997, and ISO 936: 1998, respectively), while intramuscular fat (IMF) was extracted and quantified following the AOCS Official Procedure Am 5-04 (AOCS 2005). The NaCl level was determinated following the current European Union regulations (Council Directive of the European Union 1169/2011). The 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBARs) test was determinated following the extraction method described by Vyncke (1975). Texture profile analysis (TPA) was assessed by compressing to 50% with a compression probe of 19.85 cm2 of surface contact in three dry-cured cecina pieces of 1 × 1 × 1 cm using a texture analyser (TA.XTplus, Stable Micro Systems, Vienna Court, UK). Force–time curves were recorded at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/s. Hardness (N), cohesiveness, springiness (mm), gumminess (N) and chewiness (N × mm) were obtained.
Free fatty acids analysis
Total fat was extracted from 10 g of ground meat following the procedure described by Bligh and Dyer (1959) and free fatty acids (FFA) were separated from 20 mg of the extracted lipids using NH2-aminopropyl mini-columns (Sep-Pak Vac 3 cc, 500 mg, Waters, Milford, MA) according to Kaluzny et al. (1985). Then, fatty acids were transesterified and the quantification of the FAMEs was carried out using a gas chromatograph (GC-Agilent 6890 N; Agilent Technologies Spain, S.L., Madrid, Spain), equipped with a flame ionization detector, and using a Supelco SPTM-2560 fused silica capillary column (100 m, 0.25 mmi.d., 0.2 μm film thickness; Supelco Inc., Bellafonte, PA, USA), following the chromatographic conditions described by Lorenzo et al. (2015a). Individual FAMEs were expressed as g of fatty acid/100 g of fat.
Free amino acids analysis
Free amino acids were determinated according to Pérez-Palacios et al. (2010) with the modifications proposed by Lorenzo et al. (2015a). Then, 10 µL of extract were derivatizated with 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate (Waters AccQ-Fluor reagent kit) and analysed by RP-HPLC using a Waters 2695 Separations Module with a Waters 2475 Multi Fluorescence Detector, equipped with a Waters AccQ-Tag amino acids analysis column. Results of free amino acid content were expressed as mg/100 g of dry matter.
Mineral composition
The mineral elements (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and Zn) were quantified by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) following the procedure described by Lorenzo et al. (2015c). The individual mineral content was calculated as the mean of three determinations for each sample. The results were expressed as mg/100 g of meat.
Statistical analysis
A total of 36 foal cecina’s were analysed for different parameters (6 cecinas per treatment × 3 treatments × 2 replicates). After that, normal distribution and variance homogeneity were tested (Shapiro–Wilk). The effect of salt mixtures (salting treatment) on chemical composition, physicochemical properties, free fatty acids, free amino acids level and mineral composition was examined using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the mixed-model, where these parameters was set as dependent variables, salting treatment as fixed effect and replicate as random effect. Duncan's test was performed to compare the mean values for partial sodium replacement at a significance level of P < 0.05. The values were given in terms of mean values and standard error of the mean (SEM). All statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software.
Results and discussion
Proximate composition and physicochemical parameters
The results of the chemical composition and physicochemical parameters of the foal cecina are presented in Table 1. The partial replacement of NaCl by other salts affected the pH values of cecina. The products prepared with 50% NaCl and 50% KCl showed the highest values (5.92 vs. 5.76 and 5.48, for bath II vs. batch I and III, respectively). This behaviour was also observed by Domínguez et al. (2016) in other meat products elaborated with these salt treatments.
Table 1.
Effect of NaCl replacement by other chloride salts on chemical composition and physicochemical parameters of dry-cured foal “cecina” at the end of processing
| Batch I | Batch II | Batch III | SEM | Sig. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pH | 5.76b | 5.92c | 5.48a | 0.033 | *** |
| Proximate composition (g/100 g) | |||||
| Moisture | 44.19b | 41.46a | 46.70c | 0.517 | *** |
| Fat | 1.53 | 1.91 | 1.69 | 0.112 | ns |
| Protein | 38.02a | 39.91b | 37.49a | 0.394 | * |
| Ash | 13.34b | 14.76c | 10.90a | 0.302 | *** |
| NaCl | 7.73c | 4.25b | 3.40a | 0.330 | *** |
| Colour parameters | |||||
| L* | 26.48a | 27.86b | 31.08c | 0.399 | *** |
| a* | 5.12ab | 5.71b | 4.62a | 0.193 | * |
| b* | 3.39a | 4.87b | 5.66b | 0.235 | *** |
| TBARs | 3.66a | 3.31a | 5.05b | 0.292 | * |
| Texture parameters | |||||
| Hardness (N) | 121.36 | 145.03 | 114.86 | 6.948 | ns |
| Springiness (mm) | 0.65b | 0.59a | 0.65b | 0.009 | ** |
| Cohesiveness | 0.54 | 0.50 | 0.55 | 0.010 | ns |
| Gumminess (N) | 65.86 | 74.44 | 64.61 | 4.046 | ns |
| Chewiness (N·mm) | 42.53 | 44.73 | 43.05 | 2.811 | ns |
Batch I: control, 100% NaCl; Batch II: 50% NaCl and 50% KCl; Batch III: 45% NaCl, 25% KCl, 20% CaCl2 and 10% MgCl2
Sig. significance; ns not significant
*P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001
a−cMean values in the same row (corresponding to the same parameter) not followed by a common number differ significantly (P < 0.05)
Furthermore, the different chloride salts had a significant effect on proximate composition, especially in those components related with the curing process and the addition of chloride salts. The highest contents of moisture were observed in the samples where sodium chloride was substituted by KCl and dichloride salts. These results could be related with the greater penetration of the mixture of chloride salts, which would hinder the release of water. Meanwhile, other authors found lower moisture contents in samples salted with a mixture of NaCl and KCl (Aliño et al. 2010a; Domínguez et al. 2016), which agree with the present results. A significant effect of NaCl replacement was also found in ash contents (P < 0.001), displaying the samples of treatment II the highest values (14.76 g/100 g vs. 13.34 g/100 g and 10.90 g/100 g, for treatment II vs. I and III, respectively). Our contents are similar to data reported by Lorenzo and Carballo (2016) in dry-cured foal cecina.
As expected, control samples presented higher NaCl contents (P < 0.001) than the cecinas from reduced sodium treatments (3.40 g/100 g vs. 4.25 g/100 g and 7.73 g/100 g, for treatment III vs. II and I, respectively). These outcomes were also found in other dry-cured meat products (Lorenzo et al. 2015c).
In contrast, no differences were found in protein (≈ 38 g/100 g) and IMF (≈ 1.7 g/100 g) among batches, and the values were similar to those found by Lorenzo and Carballo (2016) in the same product.
Colour is one of the parameters that could be modified through salting, which could have influence on consumer acceptance. In this research, a significant effect (P < 0.05) was found on colour parameters when NaCl was partial replacement by other chloride salts (Table 1). The values displayed for L*, a* and b* values were similar to data reported in different anatomical retail cuts of foal cecinas (Lorenzo and Carballo, 2016). L* and b* values showed the same behaviour, presenting the highest values in samples manufactured with dichloride salts (treatment III), and the lowest values in control samples. On the contrary, Lorenzo et al. (2015c) and Aliño et al. (2010b) did not observe significant differences among formulations. Despite not being significant, the aforementioned authors observed lower values of L* in samples salted with mixtures containing KCl in their formulation. The results found for a* values showed that samples salted with dichloride salts were less red compared to treatments I and II (4.62 vs. 5.12 and 5.71, for treatment III vs. I and II, respectively), which could be due to the employ of calcium chloride (Zanardi et al. 2010).
Furthermore, significant differences (P < 0.05) in lipid oxidation degree of foal cecinas was observed as a result of NaCl replacement. Cecinas salted with the mixture of chlorinated salts showed the higher TBARs values (5.05 mg MDA/kg vs. 3.66 and 3.31 mg MDA/kg, for treatment III vs. I and II, respectively). This data could be due to the presence of CaCl2 in the mixture used to salt cecinas of treatment III, since the high amounts (2.0 g/kg) employed in this study could be responsible for promoting lipid oxidation. On the other hand, the lower values obtained in treatment II is probably associated with the substitution of NaCl by KCl, which would reduce the pro-oxidant effect of sodium chloride. In fact, NaCl has the ability to disrupt cell membrane integrity facilitating the access of oxidizing agents to lipid substrates (Mariutti and Bragagnolo 2017). The findings found for TBARs values agree with data found by Lorenzo et al. (2015a) and Zanardi et al. (2010) in other meat products.
Finally, a scarcely effect was displayed in texture parameters, since NaCl replacement by other chloride salts only had a significant effect on springiness (P < 0.01). The values found for these parameters were similar to those found by Lorenzo and Carballo (2016) in dry-cured foal cecina. However, despite not being significant, samples from treatment II showed the highest hardness values (145.03 N vs. 121.36 and 114.86 N, for treatment II vs. I and III, respectively), which might be due to the lowest moisture level of these samples.
Free amino acids content
Table 2 show the free amino acid (FAA) amounts of cecina. Statistical analysis displayed that total FAA amount was significantly (P < 0.001) influenced by NaCl replacement. As can be seen, cecinas from treatment III showed the highest values (2475 mg/100 g DM) in comparison with the other treatments (1413 mg/100 g DM and 1900 in treatment I and II respectively). Our findings were also found by Armenteros et al. (2009b) and by Lorenzo et al. (2015a) who observed that the partial replacement of sodium promoted the lipolytic and proteolytic reactions in meat products. This increase could be due to the highest leucil, arginil and alanyl aminopeptidase activity observed in the experimental salting treatments (Armenteros et al. 2009b). The endogenous enzymes, very susceptibility to salt content (Zhao et al. 2005), are the main responsible of proteolytic processes (Toldrá 1998). Other studies observed a decrease in these enzymes activity as the salt content increases (Martín et al. 1998; Pérez-Palacios et al. 2010). Moreover, the FAA have a key role, owing to their contribution in the taste and in the volatile compounds derived from the degradation reactions in which they are involved (Flores et al. 1997).
Table 2.
Effect of NaCl replacement by other chloride salts on free amino acids content of dry-cured foal “cecina” at the end of processing
| Batch I | Batch II | Batch III | SEM | Sig. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free amino acids (mg/100 g) | |||||
| Aspartic acid | 9.39a | 7.17a | 22.89b | 1.578 | *** |
| Serine | 55.00a | 78.93b | 90.16b | 4.001 | *** |
| Glutamic acid | 99.07a | 156.88b | 170.01b | 7.904 | *** |
| Glycine | 33.28a | 48.63b | 51.18b | 2.224 | *** |
| Histidine | 47.93a | 68.26b | 86.36c | 3.854 | *** |
| Taurine | 74.41a | 104.22b | 101.51b | 3.300 | *** |
| Arginine | 177.24a | 303.88b | 268.56b | 13.44 | *** |
| Threonine | 49.42a | 69.63b | 98.91c | 4.521 | *** |
| Alanine | 133.58a | 195.88b | 170.68b | 6.764 | *** |
| Proline | 39.50a | 50.61b | 59.87c | 2.156 | *** |
| Cysteine | 30.58a | 32.22a | 51.91b | 2.269 | *** |
| Tyrosine | 89.49a | 95.69a | 150.09b | 6.044 | *** |
| Valine | 99.25a | 115.90a | 180.28b | 7.039 | *** |
| Methionine | 45.75a | 50.73a | 85.14b | 3.828 | *** |
| Lysine | 62.02a | 107.92b | 122.67b | 6.252 | *** |
| Isoleucine | 96.29a | 103.71a | 169.91b | 6.601 | *** |
| Leucine | 169.16a | 180.63a | 309.67b | 12.40 | *** |
| Phenylalanine | 103.30a | 103.97a | 183.79b | 7.366 | *** |
| Total free amino acids | 1413.42a | 1899.74b | 2475.17c | 97.45 | *** |
Batch I: control, 100% NaCl; Batch II: 50% NaCl and 50% KCl; Batch III: 45% NaCl, 25% KCl, 20% CaCl2 and 10% MgCl2
Sig. significance; ns not significant
*P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001
a−cMean values in the same row (corresponding to the same parameter) not followed by a common number differ significantly (P < 0.05)
In our study, the amount of all free amino acids was different (P < 0.001). The content of aspartic acid, cysteine, tyrosine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine and phenylalanine was significantly higher in the cecinas from treatment III with respect to the other two treatments. On the other hand, the contents of serine, glutamic acid, glycine, taurine, arginine, alanine and lysine were significantly lower for treatment I than for treatments II and III. In the case of histidine, threonine and proline are significantly different in the three treatments, in the way that the content increases in the treatment with the lowest NaCl percentage. As previously mentioned, this may be attribute to the different capacity of the proteolytic enzymes that are inhibited with different intensity by the salts. These outcomes were previously noticed by Lorenzo et al. (2015a, b, c) who observed that control samples of lacón presented lower proteolysis than samples with sodium replacement.
On the whole, in the present study, proteolytic phenomenon increase as NaCl content decrease. Therefore, it is clear that the different chloride salts do not have the same inhibitory effect on the proteolytic enzymes.
Free fatty acids (FFA) content
FFA were determined as indicators of the lipolysis process in the foal cecina (Table 3). The composition of FFA undergoes important changes during dry-cured stage, so it can highly influence on the sensorial and nutritional properties of the final product. The fatty acids predominately observed in our dry-cured foal cecina samples were C16:0, C18:2n-6, C18:1n-9, C18:0 and C18:3n-3. Previous researches also found these FFA in foal cecina (Lorenzo et al. 2015b), dry-cured lacón (Lorenzo et al. 2015a) or dry-cured ham (Ripollés et al. 2011). It was possible to notice significant differences among treatments in the C14:0, C16:1n-7, C20:4n-6, C20:5n-3 and C22:5n-3 amounts. However, the salt treatments carried out in this study did not show significant differences in either contents of monounsaturated (MUFA), saturated (SFA) or polyunsaturated (PUFA) FFA content in the dry-cured foal cecina. Similar findings were found by Armenteros et al. (2009a) in dry-cured loins salted with different treatments, where none of the replacements affected the lipolysis phenomena; or by Countron-Gambotti and Gandemer (1999) in dry-cured ham where different salting times practically did not modify the fatty acid contents of the intramuscular lipids. Contrary, Dos Santos et al. (2017) observed different PUFA/SFA ratios in salamis since NaCl was replaced by other salts. All the same, the reduction of unsaturated fatty acids together with higher content of TBARs, found in the treatments containing CaCl2, suggested a high lipolytic activity. In this sense, Garrido et al. (2014) highlighted the pro-oxidant action of NaCl after detected lower contents of PUFA of the muscular portion in sampling points of the most intensely salted lacón batches. Meanwhile, Lorenzo et al. (2015a) reported that the lacón prepared with 30% NaCl, 50% KCl, 15% CaCl2 and 5% MgCl2 showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the total levels of free MUFA and PUFA, concluding that higher concentrations of divalent cations salt formulations can reduce the lipolysis process, thus decreasing the total content of FFA.
Table 3.
Effect of NaCl replacement by other chloride salts on free fatty acids content of dry-cured foal “cecina” at the end of processing
| Batch I | Batch II | Batch III | SEM | Sig. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fatty acids (g/100 g of fat) | |||||
| C12:0 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.001 | ns |
| C14:0 | 0.19a | 0.19a | 0.24b | 0.009 | * |
| C15:0 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.001 | ns |
| C16:0 | 5.34 | 5.39 | 5.58 | 0.185 | ns |
| C16:1n-7 | 0.34a | 0.43ab | 0.51b | 0.023 | ** |
| C17:0 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.003 | ns |
| C17:1n-7 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.002 | ns |
| C18:0 | 2.62 | 2.64 | 2.47 | 0.080 | ns |
| C18:1n-9 | 3.25 | 3.47 | 3.71 | 0.142 | ns |
| C18:1n-7 | 0.33 | 0.36 | 0.33 | 0.010 | ns |
| C18:2n-6 | 5.34 | 5.11 | 4.67 | 0.177 | ns |
| C20:1n-9 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.002 | ns |
| C18:3n-3 | 1.56 | 1.38 | 1.66 | 0.055 | ns |
| C20:2n-6 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.003 | ns |
| C20:3n-6 | 0.24 | 0.23 | 0.20 | 0.008 | ns |
| C20:3n-3 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.12 | 0.005 | ns |
| C20:4n-6 | 0.74b | 0.66ab | 0.62a | 0.024 | * |
| C22:2n-6 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.001 | ns |
| C20:5n-3 | 0.19b | 0.14a | 0.15a | 0.007 | ** |
| C22:5n-3 | 0.45b | 0.44b | 0.35a | 0.018 | * |
| C22:6n-3 | 0.17 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.006 | ns |
| SFA | 8.38 | 8.47 | 8.52 | 0.269 | ns |
| MUFA | 4.15 | 4.47 | 4.81 | 0.186 | ns |
| PUFA | 9.01 | 8.57 | 8.10 | 0.288 | ns |
| n-3 | 2.51 | 2.36 | 2.43 | 0.081 | ns |
| n-6 | 6.49 | 6.21 | 5.67 | 0.216 | ns |
| Total free fatty acids | 21.54 | 20.89 | 21.97 | 0.617 | ns |
Batch I: control, 100% NaCl; Batch II: 50% NaCl and 50% KCl; Batch III: 45% NaCl, 25% KCl, 20% CaCl2 and 10% MgCl2
SFA saturated fatty acids; MUFA monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA polyunsaturated fatty acids; Sig. significance; ns not significant
*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01
a−cMean values in the same row (corresponding to the same parameter) not followed by a common number differ significantly (P < 0.05)
In the present research, around 21% of the total fat were FFA, regardless the batch considered. This result agrees with Lorenzo et al. (2015b) who observed percentages of total FFA between 16.5 and 21.4% in different salting times of foal cecina, as well as with Lorenzo et al. (2015a), who calculated percentages up to 22.5% at the end of the dry-ripening lacón process using different salting conditions. Despite no differences were found among the total FFA content of our treatments, significant variations in oxidation indices were observed among treatments (Table 1). The treatment III showed a significantly higher TBARs contents than those in the other two batches, which is consistent with the significance lower concentrations of C20:4n-6, C20:5n-3 and C22:5n-3 detected in the same group. Regarding this fact, it was reported that TBARs value increases when more than 50% of sodium is replaced by potassium chloride (Zanardi et al. 2010; Wu et al. 2016).
Mineral composition
The influence of salting treatment on mineral content of foal cecina are shown in Table 4. It is obvious that the mineral composition inside the cecina is somehow reflected in the salt penetration and diffusion during the meat post-salting and dry-cured processes. As expected, the Na+ content showed a significant decrease (P < 0.001) in cecinas from treatments II and III. In fact, the Na+ reduction is in agreement with the formulation, where the cecinas from treatment II had only 55% of Na+ content (1700 mg/100 g) and cecinas from treatment III had 44% of Na+ content (1360 mg/100 g) in comparison with control (3091 mg/100 g). The values of Na+ found in the control cecinas were slightly higher than data reported by Lorenzo et al. (2015c) in lacón (about 2450 mg/100 g), while the values obtained in cecinas for treatments II and III agree with those reported by these authors in “lacón” with partial substitution of NaCl by other chloride salt mixtures.
Table 4.
Effect of NaCl replacement by other chloride salts on minerals content of dry-cured foal “cecina” at the end of processing
| Batch I | Batch II | Batch III | SEM | Sig. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral composition (mg/100 g) | |||||
| Ca | 72.17a | 77.48a | 537.6b | 38.90 | *** |
| Fe | 6.17 | 6.07 | 5.07 | 0.177 | ns |
| K | 499.1a | 2902c | 1582b | 168.7 | *** |
| Mg | 26.67a | 33.39a | 111.7b | 6.947 | *** |
| Na | 3091c | 1700b | 1360a | 132.1 | *** |
| Zn | 8.84 | 9.77 | 8.36 | 0.224 | ns |
Batch I: control, 100% NaCl; Batch II: 50% NaCl and 50% KCl; Batch III: 45% NaCl, 25% KCl, 20% CaCl2 and 10% MgCl2
Sig. significance; ns not significant
*P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001
a–cMean values in the same row (corresponding to the same parameter) not followed by a common number differ significantly (P < 0.05)
In contrast, the contents of K+ in cecinas from treatment II and K+, Ca+2 and Mg+2 in cecinas from treatment III increased in comparison with control cecinas (P < 0.001). Cecinas treated with mixture II had a K+ content 6 times higher than control treatment, while those subjected to treatment III, had 3 times more K+, 7 times more Ca+2 and 4 times more Mg+2 than control cecinas. To this regard, other authors found lower amounts of Mg+2 and Ca+2 in the final product, in comparison with the levels of these chloride salts used during their elaboration (Armenteros et al. 2009a; Aliño et al. 2010a). According to Blesa et al. (2008), this fact could be linked to the high charge density in divalent cations that interfere with the penetration inside the meat. However, in the present study, high proportions of these minerals were obtained at the end of the dry-cured stage. The contents of Fe and Zn were not affected by the salt treatment. All in all, it seems that the replacement of NaCl by other salts, in addition to achieve a decrease in the Na+ intake, helps to cover the nutritional needs with respect to other minerals (Zanardi et al. 2010).
Conclusion
Our findings displayed that the use of other chloride salts as NaCl replacers affected the chemical and physicochemical parameters of dry-cured foal cecinas. In general, treatment with CaCl2 and MgCl2 increased the lipid oxidation and luminosity, while they decreased the redness. However, the values of texture parameters did not show differences among treatments. Regarding proteolytic phenomenon, control cecinas had lower values of FAA than the other two treatments. In fact, the total FAA increased as NaCl content decrease, which suggested that NaCl had more inhibitory effect on the proteolytic enzymes than the other salts. On the contrary, there were few differences in FFA among the three batches studied. Some differences in individual fatty acids (mainly individual PUFA) were observed, but this fact could be linked with the higher lipid oxidation in the treatments with NaCl substitution and not with differences on lipolytic phenomenon. Finally, the replacement of NaCl by other salts had an important influence in mineral contents, showing a significant reduction of sodium intake. However, it would be interesting to perform a sensory essay to observe how the aforementioned changes affect the organoleptic properties of the final product, as well as the consumer's acceptability.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support of Interreg V SUDOE, through OPEN2PRESERVE project (Ref. SOE2/P5/E0804). Special thanks to INIA for granting a scholarship to Cristina Pérez-Santaescolástica (Grant No. CPD2015-0212) and to Agencia Estatal de Investigación for supporting of Olalla López-Fernández (PTA2017-13615-I). R. Domínguez, M. Pateiro and J. M. Lorenzo are members of the HealthyMeat network, funded by CYTED (Ref. 119RT0568).
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
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