Ignat Tolstorebrov

Evolution of proteolytic and physico-chemical characteristics of Norwegian dry-cured ham during its processing

Proteolytic activity and physico-chemical characteristics were studied for Norwegian dry-cured ham at four different times of processing: raw hams, post-salted hams (3 months of processing), hams selected in the middle of the production (12 months of processing) and hams at the end of the processing (24 months). Cathepsin H activity decreased until negligible values after 3 months of processing, whereas cathepsins B and B+L were inactive at 12 months. AAP was the most active aminopeptidase whereas RAP and MAP were active just during the first 12 months of processing. Proteolysis index reached a value of 4.56±1.03 % with non-significant differences between 12 and 24 months of ripening. Peptide identification by LC-MS/MS was done and two peptides (GVEEPPKGHKGNKK and QAISNNKDQGSY) showing a linear response with the time of processing were found. Unfreezable water content and glass transition temperature were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique with non-significant differences in the temperature of glass transition for 12 and 24 months of processing.

Production of fish protein hydrolysates step by step: technological aspects, equipment used, major energy costs and methods of their minimizing

Nowadays, there is a growing interest on how to utilize fish materials remaining from the main production and considered as unappropriated for a direct human consumption. There are numbers of possible solutions to recover valuable nutrients from that matter and one of the most efficient is the production of fish protein hydrolysate. This article is devoted to overview existing information about the production of dried fish protein hydrolysates with a focus on dehydration process during production and equipment used for moisture removal. Drying step of the production is considered as the most energy demanding and, therefore, described in detail. Questions considering energy demands of the drying are highlighted in the article together with the proposals for the improvement of energy efficiency. This work also describes source of the raw material, the main steps of the technological scheme with the equipment used and valuable information on the intermediate state of fish protein hydrolysate between the process operations.