The role of salt in dry cured ham processing characterized by LC-MS/MS-based proteomics

Parma dry-cured ham is a typical Italian food product, manufactured according to a technological process based on empirical observations and traditional recipes, consisting of steps of salting, resting, drying and ageing. The salting phase is crucial because salt acts as a bacteriostatic agent, reduces water content, and plays an active role in the development of the sensory and quality parameters of the final product. The salting consists of two phases: in the first phase, the pork legs are covered with sea salt and then left in a room for 5-7 days at controlled temperature (0-3 °C) and humidity (75-90 %). In the second phase, the hams, after the removal of the remained salt, are covered again with fresh sea salt and stored for 12-15 days in the above mentioned environmental conditions. Two kinds of salt are used to cover the pork legs. A wet salt is used in the ham rind while dry salt is used to cover the unskinned parts. During the salting phases an exudate rich in proteins is produced. We have determined by LC-MS/MS the protein pattern of exudates obtained under different technological conditions.