Ham salting in plástic bags: A way to reduce salt use?

The objective of this work was to study salt reduction in the processing and final product of Iberian dry-cured ham manufacturing. For this purpose, high-barrier plastic bags were used in the salting stage, with salt doses of 2.5 and 3.2% at 10 and 15 d. The following aspects were evaluated: the production and salt content of brine, the analytical determinations of the hams after the salting stage, the changes in the total mass of the hams during processing and the analytical and sensory assessment of the dry-cured product. The experiment results showed that the plastic bag salting minimized the production of brine by 61 and 63% and reduced the salt content in the final product without altering the physicochemical characteristics or the hygienic quality of the dry-cured ham. In the sensory analysis, the samples salted with 2.5% doses were preferred by consumers.