Proteolysis in dry-cured hams: salt reduction and bioactive peptides

This PhD thesis is focused on the study of the evolution of the proteolytic phenomenon in dry-cured hams as a function of the technological process (with particular emphasis on the possible technological solution aimed at reducing salt content) and on the evaluation of the functional properties linked to the occurrence and possible formation of bioactive peptides (in particular, antioxidant and antihypertensive activity). The characterization of the peptide profile and the study of its evolution is carried out by advanced methods of mass spectrometry hyphenated with chromatographic and electrophoretic separations. The evaluation of the functional properties is performed by in vitro tests, taking into account also the effect of the gastrointestinal digestion on the possible release of active peptides sequences encrypted in meat proteins. For this aspect, the project is also aimed at obtaining structure-activity relationships for the identified peptides and to perform the synthesis of the most significant structures in order to better characterize their properties.