engleski

Influence of smoking method and anatomical site on the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Turopolje ham

To ensure a more sustainable breeding of the local Turopolje pig (TP), it is necessary to valorise its meat with high added-value products. Among the TP meat products that benefit most from processing, the dry-cured and smoked Turopolje ham stands out. To date, there are very few data on the quality and safety of Turopolje ham, including information on the content and distribution of potential contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from smoke. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of smoking method (traditional or industrial) and anatomical site (M. biceps femoris - BF or M. semimembranosus - SM) on the content of PAHs in Turopolje ham. All hams (n=15) were produced the same way, differing only in smoking procedures ; a traditional way above open fire (group TRAD, n=5) or in the smoking chamber (group IND: A - standard smoking, n=5, or B - 50% reduced smoking time, n=5). PAHs content (µg/kg) was determined and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC- FLD). Two-way analysis of variance was performed (PROC GLM of SAS) with fixed effects of smoking (S), muscle (M) and their interaction (SxM). Of the PAHs investigated, 14 compounds were detected: naphthalene (Nap), fluorene (Flu), acenaphthene (Acp), phenanthrene (Phen), anthracene (Ant), fluoranthene (Flt), pyrene (Py), benz[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbFA), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkFA), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), dibenz[a, h]anthracene (DbahA) and benzo[ghi]perylene (BghiP). LOQ ranged from 0.10 (BaP) to 3.30 μg/kg (Flu). The results showed that TRAD hams had higher levels of Ant, Chr, BbFA, BaP, and the sum of BaA, Chr, BbFA and BaP (PAH4) than hams from both A and B IND groups. TRAD hams had also higher content of Acp, Phen, Py, BaA, and total PAHs than IND B hams. Compared to BF, SM muscle had higher content of several PAHs i.e. Nap, Flu, Acp, Phen, Ant, Flt, Py, BaA, BkFa, BghiP, and also higher total PAH content. However, a significant SxM interaction was observed for Phen and Ant content, which were higher only in SM muscle of TRAD hams. In conclusion, this study shows a marked influence of smoking method and anatomical site on the PAHs content in Turopolje hams, mainly in the form of lower BaP and PAH4 content in all chamber smoked hams and higher light PAHs, some heavy PAHs, and total PAHs content in the more exposed SM muscle. Reduced smoking in IND hams did not affect BaP and PAH4 content, but reduced the content of some individual and total PAHs. Finally, it should be emphasised that two hams from the TRAD group exceeded the limit for PAH4 (30 µg/kg) set by EU legislation, indicating the need for more careful control of the traditional smoking process.

Dry-cured ham ; meat smoking ; PAH ; muscle ; Turopolje pig

nije evidentirano