Effect of desalting on some physical characteristics of istrian dry-cured ham

Butovi zaklanih svinja pasmine švedski landras, utovljenih u sustavu mokrog tova do završne tjelesne mase 190 do 200 kg, obrađeni su na tradicionalni istarski način sa zdjeličnim kostima, bez kože i potkožnog masnog tkiva. Za pokus je odabrano 26 butova mase od 12 do 15 kg koji su dobiveni od 13 svinja. Tehnološki postupak prerade butova obavljen je prema tradicionalnoj istarskoj tehnologiji. Nakon suhog salamurenja i prešanja butovi su podijeljeni u dvije grupe od kojih je jedna odsoljavana (O), a druga nije (N). Odsoljavanje butova obavljeno je potapanjem butova u hladnu vodu tijekom 24 sata s ciljem da se smanji koncentracija soli u butovima i utvrdi učinak postupka odsoljavanja, odnosno smanjenja koncentracije soli u butu, na kalo i pH istarskog pršuta. Nakon salamurenja i prešanja druga grupa butova je podvrgnuta daljnjem procesu prerade bez odsoljavanja. Usporedba srednjih vrijednosti sadržaja soli neodsoljavanih (6,83%) i odsoljavanih (5,33%) pršuta pokazuje statistički visoko signifikantnu razliku (p<0,001). Analizom varijance s ponovljenim mjerenjima nije utvrđen statistički značajan učinak odsoljavanja na kalo pršuta (p=0,140). Nisu utvrđene statistički značajne razlike između srednjih vrijednosti pH neodsoljavanih i odsoljavanih pršuta kako na početku preradbenog procesa, tako i kod zrelog pršuta.The legs of slaughtered hogs (Swedish Landrace breed), bred in a wet fattening system to a final body weight of 190 to 200 kg, were processed in the traditional Istrian manner with the aitch bone and without the rind or subcutaneous adipose tissue. In this experiment, 26 raw hams weighting 12 to 15 kg taken from 13 hogs were used. The technological handling process of the raw hams was conducted according to the traditional Istrian technology. After salting and pressing, the raw hams were divided into two groups, of which one was desalted (O) and the other was not (N). The leg desalting (O) was conducted by soaking the leg in a cold water for 24 hours in order to reduce its salt content and to determine the effect of desalting and reducing of salt content on the weight loss and pH of the Istrian dry-cured ham. Following salting and pressing, the second group of legs (N) was subjected to continued processing, without the desalting phase. A comparison of mean salt content in non-desalted (6.83%) and desalted (5.33%) dry-cured hams showed a strongly significant difference (p