Proteolysis and lipolysis in flavour development of dry-cured meat products

Numerous proteolytic and lipolytic reactions are involved in the generation of flavour and/ or flavour precursors in meat and meat products. Most of these reactions are known to be due to endo-/exo-peptidases and lipases, respectively. The origin of these enzymes may be either from muscle and/or from microorganisms, although their relative relevance for a given meat product strongly depends on the manufacture and distribution. In this paper, the postmortem proteolysis and lipolysis is described with particular reference to dry-cured ham, a typical meat product naturally ripened by endogenous enzymes.