Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1186056 Food Chemistry 2012 6 Pages PDF
Abstract

The chemical composition of alpaca Andean charqui was studied. Two types of charqui were sampled from producers: charqui made from lean meat slices (30 samples) and charqui made from flaps of whole bone-in carcass pieces (22 samples), each representing the two principal Andean techniques of making charqui. The aw value of charqui was under 0.75 (mean value 0.64). The non-protein nitrogen and free fatty acid contents were near 6% of total nitrogen and 6% of fat, respectively. The hydration ratio of charqui was 2.0, and the hydration resulted in a considerable loss of sodium, phosphorous and potassium. The volatile fraction of hydrated cooked charqui was rich in lipid-derived compounds, with hydrocarbons being the most abundant. A large number of branched-chain hydrocarbons were detected. Among the chemical characteristics studied several differences between both types of charqui were observed, which demonstrates the existence of variation in the product associated with the making process.

► Chemical composition of the two main types of alpaca Andean charqui. ► This charqui is a low-aw intermediate moisture and high salted meat product. ► Lipid-derived compounds, mainly hydrocarbons, dominate the volatile fraction. ► Composition varies between types of charqui.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Chemistry Analytical Chemistry
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