Improvement of food safety through the reduction of nitrifiers and specific control of curing parameters in the ham manufacturing process.

The amount of fat and the weight of the ham are criteria used in the selection of raw materials and determine the processing time of the ham. While in northern European countries, consumers prefer lean hams, in some Mediterranean countries, part of the population accepts a certain amount of infiltrated fat in this product, which allows for an extended maturation period, resulting in sensory characteristics that are highly valued. In Iberian hams and long-cured serrano hams, the presence of infiltrated fat and a certain amount of surface fat slows down the drying process and impregnates the muscle, enhancing the chewing process during consumption and providing a creamy sensation in the mouth along with a highly appreciated aged flavor. The pH of the meat is another important parameter affecting the maturation of the ham. In this regard, most authors recommend avoiding hams with a pH > 6.2 for microbiological safety reasons, to improve salting, to reduce the percentage of spoiled hams, and to avoid issues such as appearance, phosphate precipitates, and soft texture. This issue is more significant in large hams. Furthermore, within the same ham, pH values vary considerably between muscles. To obtain an easy and representative measurement of the ham, it is advisable to take the measurement in a sizable external muscle, such as the semimembranosus.