Effect of sanitizing E-beam treatment on the binding capacity of plasma powder used to manufacture restructured dry-cured ham models

Abstract The manufacture of restructured dry-cured hams involves a contamination risk with pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. This work studied the effect of E-beam, as sanitizing treatment, on the binding capacity of plasma powder (PP). For that, model systems of restructured boneless dry-cured hams were manufactured by adapting the conventional processing of dry-cured hams to their reduced size. They were contaminated with L. innocua as a surrogate and treated bilaterally with 2 kGy. The PP binding properties were determined using tensile tests. The microstructure of the binding area was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the binding force increased progressively with the processing time and was not modified by the irradiation treatment. Scanning electron microscopy of the binding area showed increasingly compact and dense structures probably related to changes in proteins structure induced by the treatment.