Evaluation of peptides generated in Italian-style dry-cured ham during processing

Low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds (M-w < 3000 Da) were measured from 29 Parma hams at different production stages (i.e., 3, 25, 125, 211, 365, and 485 days after slaughter). Precolumn derivatization with AQC and reversed phase HPLC of the samples revealed that the content of low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds increased during processing of the hams. Principal component analysis of the non-amino acid peaks showed five groupings of the samples corresponding to the different production stages. In the first 365 days of processing five different peptide peaks are formed. Post ripening lead to the formation of six additional peptide peaks. Partial least squares modeling of the major peptide peaks and sensory data show that the formation of peptides is highly correlated to the flavor formation of Parma ham.