Effect of tomato paste on sensory properties and antioxidant capacity of western brined ham

The aim of this study was to take advantage of tomato paste (TP) which was full of lycopene, and then evaluate a new processing way of western brined ham. One control group (without TP) and three experimental groups were set up with 0% (control group) , 5% (low level group) , 10% (medium level group) and 15% (high level group) TP added in the process of tumbling and analyzed the p H value, expressible moisture, textural characteristics, color, MDA contents and sensory evaluation. The results showed that as the concentration of TP increased, the p H values decreased and the color characters transformed to orange-red gradually and the antioxidant capacity got stronger. However, the high level group which owed the highest (p<0.05) expressible moisture and the lowest (p<0.05) hardness tasted sour compared to others. The presence of TP (5% and 10%) had no significant influence ( p > 0. 05) on sensory properties of western brined ham. According to the comprehensive evaluation of indicators, in conclusion, the medium level group could better improve the color characters and reduce the lipid oxidation on the basis of not influencing the sensory properties significantly.