A method for identification of frozen meat used for production of cooked ham

A simple method to distinguish if the meat used for production of cooked hams was frozen or unfrozen was developed. Several analytical parameters of quality in meat products (general and colour parameters and protein fraction) were determined in two types of cooked hams: one elaborated with refrigerated (R) and another with frozen and thawed (F/T) raw hams. Student's t-test was applied to compare both groups, but it could not be concluded if R and F/T cooked hams had the same quality or not. For this reason two multivariate statistical analyses, Factor (FA) and Discriminant Analysis (DA), were applied. The application of FA resulted in the separation of the two groups of cooked hams and allowed the selection of the parameters which were used in Discriminant Analysis (DA). A discriminant function, that is both easy to use and to interpret, was obtained.