Modelling in practice cured ham

When packaging cured meat products it is important to keep the O2 and light exposure at a minimum. Moller et al. (2002) investigated the colour stability of cured ham under different packaging and storage conditions according to Table 

Modelling factor Abbreviation No. of levels Setting of levels 

Large variations in colour stabihty between meat of different origins can strongly influence the developed models. Different meat types show large 

It appears from Figs. 9.5 and 9.6 that there is a huge variation in colour stability between meat from different sources. A range of intrinsic factors influence the oxidative balance in raw meat and thereby the colour stability of the meat (Bertelsen et al., 2000). Thus the oxidative stability of muscles is dependent on the composition, concentrations, and reactivity of (i) oxidation substrates (lipids, protein and pigments), (ii) oxidation catalysts (prooxidants such as transition metals and various enzymes) and (iii) antioxidants, e.g., vitamin E and various enzymes. For review see Bertelsen et al. (2000). 

Meat from different somces shows different tendencies to tmdergo colom deterioration. It is therefore necessary to investigate meat from a large ntrmber of sources to be able to make general conclusions. Despite the large variations in the colour stability of meat from the different animals and mttscle types investigated in Section 9.4, the pronotmced effect of temperatrrre and the constant interval of O2 are common. Only the rate of colom deterioration differs. 

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