Peptidomics as a tool for quality control in dry-cured ham processing

Spanish dry-cured ham is a high quality product whose economic value is mainly given by its curing time. An intense proteolysis takes place throughout the dry-cured processing, which results in the generation of a high amount of peptides and free amino acids responsible for the final quality of dry-cured hams. In this work, a peptidomics approach has been used to study the evolution of peptides throughout the ham dry-curing process, identifying and quantifying the generated peptides in order to define potential quality biomarkers. For this purpose, dry-cured ham extracts at different processing times (0, 2, 3.5, 5, 6.5 and 9 months) were fractionated by size-exclusion chromatography and analysed by nanoliquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Differences obtained in the relative quantification of peptides by using a label-free methodology were useful to establish differences between processing times, being peptides generated by the degradation of myosin light chain 1 protein mainly responsible for the observed differences during the last stages of curing. In particular, APAPAPAPPKEEKI and PAPAPAPAPAPAPAPPKE, exclusively identified at 9 months of curing, would be potential markers to control the time of curing and thus the final quality of dry-cured hams.The FPI Scholarship BES-2011-046096 from MINECO (Spain) to M.G. and Grants AGL2013-47169-R from MINECO and FEDER funds are acknowledged. The research also received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG under Grant Agreement 614281 (HIGHVALFOOD). The JAEDOC-CSIC postdoctoral contract to L.M. co-funded by the European Social Fund is also acknowledged.Peer reviewe

New insights into meat by-products utilization

Meat industry generates large volumes of by-products like blood, bones, meat trimmings, skin, fatty tissues, horns, hoofs, feet, skull and viscera among others that are costly to be treated and disposed ecologically. These costs can be balanced through innovation to generate added value products that increase its profitability. Rendering results in feed ingredients for livestock, poultry and aquaculture as well as for pet foods. Energy valorization can be obtained through the thermochemical processing of meat and bone meal or the use of waste animal fats for the production of biodiesel. More recently, new applications have been reported like the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates as alternative to plastics produced from petroleum. Other interesting valorization strategies are based on the hydrolysis of by-products to obtain added value products like bioactive peptides with relevant physiological effects as antihypertensive, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, etc. with promising applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. This paper reports and discusses the latest developments and trends in the use and valorisation of meat industry by-products.Grant AGL2014-57367-R from MINECO (Spain) and FEDER funds, Grant GV/2015/138 from Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) and JAEDOC-CSIC, postdoctoral contract of L.M. co-funded by the European Social Fund are acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Trends in Biodiesel Production from Animal Fat Waste

© 2020 by the authors.The agro-food industry generates large amounts of waste that contribute to environmental contamination. Animal fat waste constitutes some of the most relevant waste and the treatment of such waste is quite costly because environmental regulations are quite strict. Part of such costs might be reduced through the generation of bioenergy. Biodiesel constitutes a valid renewable source of energy because it is biodegradable, non-toxic and has a good combustion emission profile and can be blended up to 20% with fossil diesel for its use in many countries. Furthermore, up to 70% of the total cost of biodiesel majorly depends on the cost of the raw materials used, which can be reduced using animal fat waste because they are cheaper than vegetable oil waste. In fact, 6% of total feedstock corresponded to animal fat in 2019. Transesterification with alkaline catalysis is still preferred at industrial plants producing biodiesel. Recent developments in heterogeneous catalysts that can be easily recovered, regenerated and reused, as well as immobilized lipases with increased stability and resistance to alcohol denaturation, are promising for future industrial use. This manuscript reviews the available processes and recent advances for biodiesel generation from animal fat waste.This research was funded by European Marie Curie project, grant number 614281 (HIGHVALFOOD) and European Regional Development Fund.Peer reviewe

Determinación de compuestos bioquímicos para el control de calidad en la elaboración de jamón cocido y jamón curado

Durante la última década se ha puesto de manifiesto la importancia de desarrollar nuevos métodos rápidos de análisis con el fin de controlar el proceso de elaboración de los productos cárnicos de una forma segura y eficiente. Debido a este interés, parte de esta Tesis Doctoral se ha centrado en el desarrollo y la aplicación de nuevos métodos no destructivos y rápidos para controlar el proceso de producción, tanto del jamón cocido como del tradicional jamón curado. La participación de compuestos como la creatina y creatinina en el conjunto de las reacciones químicas y enzimáticas que tienen lugar en el músculo postmortem los convierten en buenos marcadores para conocer el tiempo de curado y/o cocción de productos cárnicos. En la presente Tesis Doctoral se ha desarrollado un nuevo método de análisis por HPLC sencillo y fiable basado en la cromatografía de interacción hidrofílica (HILIC) para la determinación simultánea de creatina y creatinina, así como de los dipéptidos carnosina, anserina y balenina, siendo una alternativa muy interesante a los métodos ya existentes para el análisis de este tipo de compuestos. Dado que la conversión de creatina en creatinina se ve influenciada por la temperatura, el tiempo, y por los cambios de pH, se ha empleado la ratio creatinina/creatina como índice para determinar el alcance del tratamiento térmico aplicado durante el procesado de jamón cocido, y también como valor para estimar el tiempo mínimo de curado del jamón. Además de los cambios en compuestos relacionados con el metabolismo energético del músculo, durante el proceso de curado de jamón tienen lugar una serie de reacciones bioquímicas entre las que destaca la intensa proteólisis de las proteínas musculares. A pesar de tener la evidencia de la presencia de oligopéptidos al final del proceso de curado, se sabe muy poco acerca de la secuencia específica de los mismos.Mora Soler, L. (2010). Determinación de compuestos bioquímicos para el control de calidad en la elaboración de jamón cocido y jamón curado [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/7345Palanci

Optimisation of a simple and reliable label-free methodology for the relative quantitation of raw pork meat proteins

Recent advances in proteomics have become an indispensable tool for a fast, precise and sensitive analysis of proteins in complex biological samples at both, qualitative and quantitative level. In this study, a label-free quantitative proteomic methodology has been optimised for the relative quantitation of proteins extracted from raw pork meat. So, after the separation of proteins by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis and trypsin digestion, their identification and quantitation have been done using nanoliquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole/time-of-flight (Q/ToF) mass spectrometer. Relative quantitation has been based on the measurement of mass spectral peak intensities, which have been described that are correlated with protein abundances. The results obtained regarding linearity, robustness, repeatability and accuracy show that this procedure could be used as a fast, simple, and reliable method to quantify changes in protein abundance in meat samples.The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement 312090 (BACCHUS). This publication reflects only the author views and the Community is not liable for any use made of the information contained therein. JAEDOC-CSIC postdoctoral contract to L.M. is also acknowledged. FPI Scholarship BES-2011-046096 and grant AGL2010-16305 from MINECO (Spain) and FEDER funds are also acknowledged.Peer reviewe

New Insights into meat by-product utilization

[EN] Meat industry generates large volumes of by-products like blood, bones, meat trimmings, skin, fatty tissues, horns, hoofs, feet, skull and viscera among others that are costly to be treated and disposed ecologically. These costs can be balanced through innovation to generate added value products that increase its profitability. Rendering results in feed ingredients for livestock, poultry and aquaculture as well as for pet foods. Energy valorization can be obtained through the thermochemical processing of meat and bone meal or the use of waste animal fats for the production of biodiesel. More recently, new applications have been reported like the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates as alternative to plastics produced from petroleum. Other interesting valorization strategies are based on the hydrolysis of by-products to obtain added value products like bioactive peptides with relevant physiological effects as antihypertensive, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, etc. with promising applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. This paper reports and discusses the latest developments and trends in the use and valorisation of meat industry by-products. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Grant AGL2014-57367-R from MINECO (Spain) and FEDER funds, Grant GV/2015/138 from Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) and JAEDOCCSIC, postdoctoral contract of L.M. co-funded by the European Social Fund are acknowledged.Toldrá Vilardell, F.; Mora Soler, L.; Reig Riera, MM. (2016). New Insights into meat by-product utilization. Meat Science. 120:54-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2016.04021S545912

Management of meat by- and co- products for an improved meat processing sustainability

[EN] Large amounts of meat by- and co-products are generated during slaughtering and meat processing, and require rational management of these products for an ecological disposal. Efficient solutions are very important for sustainability and innovative developments create high added-value from meat by-products with the least environmental impact, handling and disposal costs, in its transition to bioeconomy. Some proteins have relevant technological uses for gelation, foaming and emulsification while protein hydrolyzates may contribute to a better digestibility and palatability. Protein hydrolysis generate added-value products such as bioactive peptides with relevant physiological effects of interest for applications in the food, pet food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. Inedible fats are increasingly used as raw material for the generation of biodiesel. Other applications are focused on the development of new biodegradable plastics that can constitute an alternative to petroleumbased plastics. This manuscript presents the latest developments for adding value to meat by- and co-products and discusses opportunities for making meat production and processing more sustainable.Grant from AGL2017-89831-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivity and FEDER funds. The Ramon y Cajal postdoctoral contract to LM is also acknowledged.Toldrá Vilardell, F.; Reig Riera, MM.; Mora Soler, L. (2021). Management of meat by- and co- products for an improved meat processing sustainability. Meat Science. 181:1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108608S1918

Evolution of proteolytic and physico-chemical characteristics of Norwegian dry-cured ham during its processing

Proteolytic activity and physico-chemical characteristics were studied for Norwegian dry-cured ham at four different times of processing: raw hams, post-salted hams (3 months of processing), hams selected in the middle of the production (12 months of processing) and hams at the end of the processing (24 months). Cathepsin H activity decreased until negligible values after 3 months of processing, whereas cathepsins B and B + L were inactive at 12 months. AAP was the most active aminopeptidase whereas RAP and MAP were active just during the first 12 months of processing. Proteolysis index reached a value of 4.56 ± 1.03 % with non-significant differences between 12 and 24 months of ripening. Peptide identification by LC-MS/MS was done and two peptides (GVEEPPKGHKGNKK and QAISNNKDQGSY) showing a linear response with the time of processing were found. Unfreezable water content and glass transition temperature were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique with non-significant differences in the temperature of glass transition for 12 and 24 months of processing.The work was supported by the Research Council of Norway (project 225262/E40 – DryMeat)Peer reviewe

EFECTO DE LA CUBIERTA (MICROTÚNEL) EN LA PRODUCTIVIDAD DE DOS VARIEDADES DE FRESA (Fragaria vesca) EN EL SECTOR CAJANUMA CANTÓN LOJA

La fresa (Fragaria vesca) es un cultivo de gran aceptación a nivel mundial, no siendo la excepción en Ecuador. La mayor parte de la producción se realiza a campo abierto, haciendo que existan limitaciones por el ataque de factores bióticos y la influencia de factores abióticos, generando pérdidas en la producción. El presente trabajo se planteó en la provincia de Loja al no existir información precisa de este cultivo e investigaciones sobre el uso de sistemas protegidos (microtúnel). El objetivo principal fue evaluar el efecto de la producción de fresa en los dos sistemas de producción (Campo abierto y microtúnel), con variedades Albion y Monterey; además analizar el costo y rentabilidad de la producción. El sistema a campo abierto fue considerado como un tratamiento testigo para su evaluación frente al de microtunel. El experimento se realizó en la Estación Agropecuaria de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, bajo condiciones de microtúnel y campo abierto, en la cuales se comparó el desarrollo fenológico y productivo de la fresa. Los resultados encontrados en el estudio en los dos sistemas a campo abierto y microtúnel no presentaron una diferencia estadística en las variables fisiológicas evaluadas, concluyendo que la cubierta con microtúnel al cultivo no influyó en el desarrollo en las dos variedades. En relación al análisis de costos-beneficio de la producción, este fue superior en el sistema microtúnel, la inversión fue más fuerte al inicio, sin embargo, se debe indicar que existen varias ventajas productivas en relación con campo abierto, generando beneficios al productor de fresa. Palabras clave: Fresa, Microtúnel, producción, rendimiento, rentabilidad.//The strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a crop of great acceptance worldwide. In Ecuador, most of the production is done in open field, presenting limitations by the attack of biotic factors and abiotic factors that generate losses in the production. This research was carried out in the province of Loja, since there was no precise information on this crop, and research on the use of protected systems (low tunnels). The main objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of strawberry production on the two production systems (open field and low tunnels), with Albion and Monterey varieties, as well as to analyze the costs and profitability of production. The experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Station of Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, under low tunnels and open field conditions, in which the phenological and productive development of the strawberry was compared. The results found in the study in the two open field and low tunnel systems did not present a statistical difference in the physiological variables evaluated, which allow to conclude that the low tunnel cover on the crop did not influence the development of the two varieties. In relation to the cost-benefit analysis of production, it was higher in the low tunnel system, the investment was stronger at the beginning, but it must be indicated that there are several productive advantages in relation to the open field that generate benefits for the strawberry producer