Portable Raman Spectrometer as a Screening Tool for Characterization of Iberian Dry-Cured Ham
Andrés Martín-Gómez,
Natalia Arroyo-Manzanares,
María García-Nicolás,
Ángela I. López-Lorente,
Soledad Cárdenas,
Ignacio López-García,
Pilar Viñas,
Manuel Hernández-Córdoba,
Lourdes Arce
Affiliations
Andrés Martín-Gómez
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Fine Chemistry and Nanochemistry, Marie Curie Annex Building, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Natalia Arroyo-Manzanares
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
María García-Nicolás
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Ángela I. López-Lorente
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Fine Chemistry and Nanochemistry, Marie Curie Annex Building, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Soledad Cárdenas
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Fine Chemistry and Nanochemistry, Marie Curie Annex Building, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Ignacio López-García
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Pilar Viñas
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Manuel Hernández-Córdoba
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence “Campus Mare Nostrum”, University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Lourdes Arce
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Fine Chemistry and Nanochemistry, Marie Curie Annex Building, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Dry-cured Iberian ham is officially classified into different commercial categories according to the pig’s breed and feeding regime. These reach very different prices, thus promoting labelling fraud and causing great damage to the food sector. In this work, a method based on Raman spectroscopy was explored as a rapid in situ screening tool for Iberian ham samples. A total of 110 samples were analyzed to assess the potential of this technique to differentiate purebred, crossbred, acorn-fed and feed-fed dry-cured Iberian ham. A continuous signal probably due to sample fluorescence was obtained, which hid the Raman scattering signal. Therefore, chemometric treatment was applied in order to extract non-apparent information. High validated classification rates were obtained for feeding regime (83.3%) and breed (86.7%). In addition, an interlaboratory study was carried out to confirm the applicability of the method with 52 samples, obtaining a validated rate above 80%.
