Influence of pig crossbreed on the composition, volatile compound content and flavour of dry cured ham

The extraction of volatile compounds from dry-cured ham using a dynamic head-space method coupled with gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) enabled the identification of a large number of components. Some of these compounds exhibited intense sensory characteristics during odour assessment. Using similar technology, the effect of pig crossbreeds: Landrace × Large-White, Duroc × Gascon-Meishan, Piétrain × Gascon-Meishan and Large-White × Gascon-Meishan, on both volatiles and the flavour of dry-cured hams was limited, although differences were observed in aromatic compounds like 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom), 2,3-butanedione and acetoin (butter like).