Paris ham processing: Technological yield as affected by residual glycogen content of muscle

The aim of the present experiment was to study the relationships between pH, protein and residual glycogen content of pig muscle on the one hand, and technological yield (TY) of Paris ham processing on the other (Paris ham is a type of cured cooked ham). Fifty-two pigs were slaughtered at 100 kg liveweight in a commercial abattoir, in four slaughter series. Ultimate pH, protein and glycogen were determined around 24h post mortem. Two days after slaughter, the right hams were processed to Paris ham. Residual glycogen levels varied from 0 to 78 μmol/g of fresh tissue. All correlations between TY and the other traits under study were significant at the P < 0·05 level. Correlation between glycogen and TY was by far the highest one (r = 0t-0·60, P < 0·01). Protein content and both pH values gave similar but lower correlations with TY (r around 0·4, P < 0·01). It is concluded that the results of the present study agree with the hypothesis that the residual glycogen content of muscle has a direct effect on the technological yield of cooked ham processing.