Morphological, textural and physico-chemical characterization of processed meat products during their shelf life

A good characterization of the morphology and physico-chemical properties of processed meat products is crucial to develop new preservation techniques. The present work reports a thorough characterization of three of such products: pork ham, turkey ham and bacon; the products were analysed in fresh and after 35 days of refrigerated storage. The results obtained uncover significant differences regarding the volatile compounds of the products and expose texture changes during the storage of the different sliced foods. In bacon, the muscle fibres were the less damaged ones (SEM and Cryo-SEM analysis) and the muscle fibres of pork ham were among the most damaged of all, due to the longer cooking time. The main volatile compounds found by the GC-MS study were aromatics, alkanes and esters. At the end of the recommended shelf life period for the studied products (35 days) significant differences in volatiles (changes in concentration and type) were found. Meat dehydration and the change of the type of volatile compounds in the package atmosphere were successfully identified and are believed to be the main reason for the lower acceptance of the aged products by consumers.