Monitoring of salt content during the dry salting of ham

Excessive consumption of salt causes many diseases, including high blood pressure and cardiovascular system disease. In most countries, salt intake is above the WHO guideline daily intake. In Hungary, the average salt intake is more than double the recommended value. Based on these, significant changes are needed in food technology and recipes. To avoid excessive salt intake Hungary has joined the European Union's community program for salt reduction.The aim of this study was to compare the salt content in different areas of Mangalitsa ham during the dry salting, and compare the average salt content with the regulations of the Codex Alimentarius Hungaricus. The ham was dry salted with 10% by weight of the meat and placed in a controlled atmosphere storage room. The curing took 21 days. The NaCl uptake was measured with Mohr method. The ham was cut at 3 points Cushion (C), Fore Cushion (FC) and Butt End (BE). The salt content of BE was generally higher than the other two areas (C, FC). The differences can be explained by the difference in the thickness of the pieces of meat and fat. The average salt content of the different areas did not exceed the threshold limit in the Codex Alimentarius Hungaricus. At the beginning of the experiment, the salt content of each meat layer was very different, the absorbed salt was concentrated in the surface layer. Over time, as the ham lost a lot of water and due to the lack of outer salt, a significant increase in salt content began in the meat centrum. By day 80, the salt content of the meat centrum exceeded the salt content of both the fat and the surface layer.