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MAT-SLF-Matprogr.:Prosj.fullfin.av SLF

Sustainable production of traditional and novel cured dried meat products - DryMeat

Tildelt: kr 8,0 mill.

DryMeat was investigating how traditional and novel Norwegian dry-cured products can be produced with increased quality while obtaining sustainability and high energy efficiency. The project was a Competence Building Project for Industry, funded by the Norwegian Research Council, Nortura SA, Alfsen og Gunderson AS and BWL Maskin AS. SINTEF Energi was leading the project and the involved research partners were SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Nofima, Animalia and Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (CSIC), Spain. The main aim was to increase the knowledge and understanding of the drying kinetics and ripening processes, in order to enable high quality products with good reproducibility. Drying and ripening conditions of high end, dry-cured ham require long processing times in order to achieve the superior quality. The weight of the product is reduced simultaneously, which makes the production an expensive process. The climatic conditions must be well controlled during processing and the focus is naturally on the superior product quality, while energy efficiency of the process is still an important but secondary parameter. The project started in 2013 with the establishment of the project consortium and the evaluation of the current production of dry-cured ham in Norway. In 2014 DryMeat focused on how the future production process can be more sustainable with respect to energy efficiency. The potential for energy recovery are often unused, since the temperature levels in the production lines are low and the waste heats are not considered as energetically valuable. A new concept for heat pump assisted drying of dry-cured ham was evaluated. During the period from 2014 to 2016, the influence of the process conditions on the quality aspects of Norwegian ham products were investigated. An important aim of the project was to adopt novel, advanced analytical methods for characterization and understanding of the ripening process. Mass spectrometry (MS) was applied for untargeted analyses of low-molecular weight compounds, and revealed changing 'fingerprints' with processing time and at different salt concentrations. Through a PhD exchange in 2015, larger peptides and proteins of production samples were analyzed MS-based methods at the Spanish partner CSIC. Thermal properties were determined in order to relate physical and biochemical changes. These different analytical approaches have provided more knowledge about how process conditions and drying rates affect the enzymatic activities and ripening rates. In addition, marker compounds that can be used for quality assessment of the production were identified. The project finalized its main activities in 2016. Dry-cured hams in different stages of the production were scanned with CT and the salt and water profile was analyzed in the beginning of the year. Proteomic analyses of samples from small-scale tests have also shown a clear correlation between protein degradation and different drying conditions. This is a clear indication how drying and ripening conditions influence certain quality aspects. Modelling of salt diffusion in different cross section and muscle parts was investigated detailed for the salting and ripening process. The project was finalized early in 2017 with the PhD defense in which the detected process biomarkers and the results of the physio-chemical and biochemical experiments was summed up. Several scientific articles and reports have been published. The publications are dedicated to the determination of the thermal properties of dry-cured ham with Differential Scanning Calorimeter, State of the Art on biochemistry of dry-cured ham, characterization of the ripening process and proteolytic activities and also technical solutions in today's production, possibility for energy recovery from production as well as usage of ambient air as energy source for cooling. DryMeat has also educated five master students as well as on PhD. The updated status of the publications can be followed on the project website: http://www.sintef.no/projectweb/drymeat/

In 2011 the value of the retail sale of dry-cured pork meat (9478 tonnes) and dry-cured lamb meat (1590 tonnes) in Norway was 2800 MNOK, with domestic production accounting for 85-90%. Norwegian producers experience an increased competition from imported products. The need to maintain and increase their market share is the Norwegian producer's prime mover. Optimization of the production process may lead to higher production capacity, reduced drying time and hence, potential for energy and cost savings. Im proved process control is required to reduce the variation in product quality, and enable more rational and efficient development of new products to strengthen the competitiveness of the industry. The project DryMeat aims to reduce energy consumption, im prove quality and minimize quality variation during dry-cured meat production. The critical R&D challenges to be faced will be fundamental studies of (1) mass transfer processes within products during drying and curing, formation of dry layer, and effect of drying conditions on ripening, (2) enzymatic and chemical reactions occurring in meat at reduced water activities, and (3) optimization of existing and new drying systems for dry-cured ham and lamb. 1 PhD candidate and five master students will be edu cated. The main achievements of the project will be a better understanding of how the drying rates should be controlled to obtain desired and reproducible product properties reduced energy costs and increased capacity of production plants. This knowledge , analytical methods and modeling tools will enable the industry to develop robust processes for existing products and design new or improved production lines or products. Norway has strong research groups in meat and meat technology, as well as in engin eering and process technology, and industrial biotechnology. Together with the Spanish group CSCI, which has extensive experience with dry-cured meat processing and industry vendors a strong team will be formed

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