Characterisation of microbial deep spoilage in Iberian dry-cured ham

The purpose of this work was to investigate the micro-organisms involved in overlooked “bone taint” spoilage of dry-cured Iberian hams. The physico-chemical characteristics of spoiled hams with 12 and 24 months of ripening, showing initial signs of alteration, were analyzed and their correlations with microbial counts studied. The spoilage potential of different microbial groups was assessed by the relationship between the microbial counts and the proteolysis level of spoilage as observed in the degradation of myofribrillar and sarcoplasmic protein fractions and in the changes in free amino acids. Non-enteric gram-negative bacteria (NEGN) were the dominant microbial group, showing a positive correlation with the moisture of spoiled hams. The Catalase-positive cocci (GPCP) growth was favoured by high NaCl concentrations in the spoiled hams, whereas the counts of Enterobacteriaceae were negatively affected by high NaCl concentration. The highest proteolytic microorganisms were the Gram-negative microbial groups playing Enterobacteriaceae a major role in the undesirable changes of the texture properties of the spoiled hams. With respect to the sensorial analysis, a synergy between NEGN and GPCP was observed in most of the strongly spoiled samples.