Abstract:In this study, neutral protease and lipase were selected as exogenous enzymes applied in the production of bacon to accelerate the mature process. The uniform design method was used to optimize four key technical indicators(amount of neutral protease and lipase, tumbling and curing time). Differences of flavor precursors, protein hydrolysates, and fat oxidation index between traditional and exogenous enzyme fast mature bacons were investigated comparatively. The results showed that, addition of neutral protease and lipase could effectively promote the accumulation of flavor precursors. With the increased amount of exogenous enzymes, the degree of hydrolysis of bacon protein was significantly escalated, and the non-protein nitrogen, free amino acids and acid value were all increased notably. The values of thiobarbituric acid increased at the beginning and then decreased. When the amount of neutral protease was above 200 mg/kg, the degree of protein hydrolysis of bacon exceeded 20%. When lipase addition was 600 mg/kg, the acid value of bacon reached a maximum of 1.52 mg/g. Compared with the traditional bacon, the bacon with exogenous enzymes was richer in flavor. The contents of non-protein nitrogen and total free amino acids were all abundant. In addition, the contents of 7 free amino acids significantly increased in bacons with exogenous enzymes. The exogenous enzymes played an important role in promoting the formation of bacon flavor, effectively reducing the amount of salt added, and greatly shortening the product processing cycle. It had an important application value in the modernization of traditional bacon meat.
