Severe community-acquired pneumonia and positive urinary antigen test for S. pneumoniae: amoxicillin is associated with a favourable outcome.

Positive urinary antigen tests (UAT) for pneumococcal infection in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) may lead to targeted antibiotic therapy. We report an audit aimed at defining the link between mortality and targeted therapy. We conducted a retrospective multicentre audit of patients with severe CAP for whom a UAT was positive for S. pneumoniae. Patients admitted from January 2010 to December 2013 to 8 medical centres (from A to H) were included. Co-morbidities were defined by the specific treatment administered before hospital care, or if the diagnosis was newly established during the hospital stay. We used the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) to assess disease severity. Only patients with PSI > 90 were included. Antibiotic treatments and the PSI were extracted from patients' charts. Amoxicillin had to be prescribed as a targeted antibiotic treatment or at the time of antibiotic reassessment. A total of 389 patients were included. The mean (±STD) PSI score was 128 ± 29; 38.9% of the patients had a class 5 PSI score. Intensive care was required for 36.6% of the patients. Amoxicillin was initially prescribed in 47 cases (12.1%) and in 34 cases after reassessment (8.7%). In logistic regression analysis, we found three parameters associated with mortality: being hospitalised in institution D, class 5 PSI score, and metastatic cancer. In contrast, three antibiotic regimens were protective factors, including targeted therapy: OR = 0.09, p < 0.001. In the context of severe CAP with positive UAT for S. pneumoniae, targeted therapy was associated with a reduction in mortality.

Effects of acerola fruit extract on sensory and shelf-life of salted beef patties from grinds differing in fatty acid composition.

The effects of added acerola fruit extract on sensory and shelf-life of beef patties were evaluated. Ground beef was obtained from young bulls fed one of four diets (CON: control, LIN: linseed, CLA: conjugated linoleic acid, LINCLA: LIN plus CLA). Pre-salted (1.8% w/w) beef patties (7.7% fat) with (0.15% w/w) or without acerola were packed in modified atmosphere (80%O2:20%CO2) and displayed in a retail case for 8days. There were no interactions between diet and antioxidant treatments. LIN and/or CLA had no effect on color and lipid stability during display. However, LIN increased n-3 fatty acids in beef and tended to increase intensity of rancid flavor. Addition of acerola extended shelf-life by at least 3 days by improving color and lipid stability and a decreased trend in intensity of rancid flavor of patties without affecting microbial counts. Thus, the use of acerola as a natural antioxidant can be considered an effective method to retard color and lipid oxidation in beef patties.

The effect of thermal processing condition on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of fermented sausages dried by Quick-Dry-Slice process®.

The effect of different thermal processing conditions just after fermentation on physicochemical parameters and sensory attributes of salami and chorizo slices dried by Quick-Dry-Slice process®, was evaluated. Meat and common additives were mixed, stuffed and fermented. Previous to drying the sausages were subjected to thermal treatment at 53 °C at different exposure times (0, 50, 65, 80, 95 and 110 min). Finally, the sausages were sliced and dried using QDS process®. Color, instrumental texture and sensory analysis were performed. Lightness (L*) after fermentation increased with thermal processing in both products while redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) decreased only in salami. Thermal treatment after fermentation increased the initial force (F0). Cooked appearance, cooked fat odor, cooked flavor and stringiness increased when the thermal processing time was increased. Thermal processing of salami and chorizo at 53 °C for 50 min and drying up to 30% of weight loss resulted in a similar product to that obtained without thermal processing.

Factors affecting dry-cured ham consumer acceptability.

The objectives of the present study were (1) to compare the relative importance of price, processing time, texture and intramuscular fat in purchase intention of dry-cured ham through conjoint analysis, (2) to evaluate the effect of dry-cured ham appearance on consumer expectations, and (3) to describe the consumer sensory preferences of dry-cured ham using external preference mapping. Texture and processing time influenced the consumer preferences in conjoint analysis. Red colour intensity, colour uniformity, external fat and white film presence/absence influenced consumer expectations. The consumer disliked hams with bitter and metallic flavour and with excessive saltiness and piquantness. Differences between expected and experienced acceptability were found, which indicates that the visual preference of consumers does not allow them to select a dry-cured ham that satisfies their sensory preferences of flavour and texture.

Vitamin (B1, B2, B3 and B6) content and oxidative stability of Gastrocnemius muscle from dry-cured hams elaborated with different nitrifying salt contents and by two ageing times.

The effect of the amount of added nitrate and nitrate plus nitrite to dry-cured hams on the vitamin (B1, B2, B3, B6) content, the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) activities and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was assessed in Gastrocnemius muscle at the end of two ripening processes. Five different curing mixtures (Hi-N: 600 KNO3; Lo-N: 150 KNO3; Hi-Mix: 600 KNO3+600 NaNO2; Lo-Mix: 150 KNO3+150 NaNO2; Hi-Mix/Asc: 600 KNO3+600 NaNO2+500 sodium ascorbate, expressed as mg of salts added on surface per kg of fresh ham) were evaluated in dry-cured hams aged for 11.5months (standard process, SP) and 22months (long process, LP). Minor differences in target parameters between the hams due to the process were found. The amount of nitrate when it was added alone or as a mixture of nitrate and nitrite, as well as the ascorbate addition to dry-cured hams did not affect vitamin B1, B2 and B3 contents. The level of vitamin B6 was affected by both the amount and the mixture of salts; the addition of nitrite reduced around 40% the content of vitamin B6, but it was not affected by nitrate or ascorbate. The activity of SOD and CAT decreased with the amount of nitrate and nitrite, while GSHPx and TBARS resulted unaffected.

Majorcan Black Pig as a traditional pork production system: improvements in slaughterhouse procedures and elaboration of pork carpaccio as an alternative product.

The Majorcan Black Pig (MBP) was used as a model of differentiated traditional system within the Q-PorkChains project. The MBP farms were taken as an example of traditional system using a local breed which claims for high meat quality products. Welfare Quality® protocol was applied at the slaughterhouse and improvement strategies related to ante-mortem conditions and technological meat quality were defined. Pork carpaccio from MBP was elaborated to evaluate its sensory properties as an alternative to the existing MBP products. MBP tenderloins were better suited than those from pigs from a commercial breed to elaborate this product.

Appearance, flavor, and texture attributes of pig dry-cured hams have a complex polygenic genomic architecture.

The influence that the genetics of species used as food sources has on the human perception of sensory attributes has been rarely addressed in previous studies. Dry-cured hams are high-quality highly appreciated pork products obtained by salting, curing, drying, and aging processes. We performed a QTL scan for 17 sensory attributes (including appearance, taste, flavor, and texture) and the overall liking evaluated by a panel of trained tasters in both semimembranosus (SM) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles of dry-cured hams from pigs raised in identical nutrition and management conditions. The QTL scan yielded a large array of chromosome- and genomewide QTL, reflecting the complex polygenic architecture of these traits. Among them, 6 QTL affecting SM flavor attributes (aged, matured, sweetness, and umami), 7 QTL associated to SM texture defects (adhesiveness and pastiness), and a single QTL for appearance (BF color intensity) reached the genomewide significant threshold. Discrepancies were observed between the BF and SM QTL maps, probably due to the differential drying and ripening rates determined by the external (SM) vs. internal (BF) location of each muscle. Within muscle, a certain degree of pleiotropy is supported by QTL co-localization for flavor (aged, matured, and sweet) or texture (such as pastiness and adhesiveness defects caused by excessive proteolysis) attributes. On the whole, QTL for overall sensory liking tended to co-localize with aged and matured QTL. Several functional candidate genes involved in the biochemical processes that shape flavor and texture attributes, such as ANPEP, LIPE, LIPA, MEP1B, and MMP28, co-localized with QTL hotspots. These results demonstrate that genetic factors of the pig influence the perception of the sensory attributes generated during dry-cured ham processing and represent a first contribution to elucidate which genetic factors may modulate the sensory properties of dry-cured hams.

Analysis of raw hams using SELDI-TOF-MS to predict the final quality of dry-cured hams.

The relationship between protein profiles of Gluteus medius (GM) muscles of raw hams obtained from 4 pure breed pigs (Duroc, Large White, Landrace, and Piétrain) with the final quality of the Semimembranosus and Biceps femoris muscles of dry-cured hams was investigated. As expected, Duroc hams showed higher levels of marbling and intramuscular fat content than the other breeds. Piétrain hams were the leanest and most conformed, and presented the lowest salt content in dry-cured hams. Even if differences in the quality traits (colour, water activity, texture, composition, intramuscular fat, and marbling) of dry-cured hams were observed among the studied breeds, only small differences in the sensory attributes were detected. Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) was used to obtain the soluble protein profiles of GM muscles. Some associations between protein peaks obtained with SELDI-TOF-MS and quality traits, mainly colour (b*) and texture (F(0), Y(2), Y(90)) were observed. Candidate protein markers for the quality of processed dry-cured hams were identified.

Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry: a tool to predict pork quality.

Expression of water soluble proteins of fresh pork Longissimus thoracis from 4 pure breed pigs (Duroc, Large White, Landrace, and Piétrain) was studied to identify candidate protein markers for meat quality. Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) was used to obtain the soluble protein profiles of Longissimus thoracis muscles. The pure breeds showed differences among the studied meat quality traits (pHu, drip loss, androstenone, marbling, intramuscular fat, texture, and moisture), but no significant differences were detected in sensory analysis. Associations between protein peaks obtained with SELDI-TOF-MS and meat quality traits, mainly water holding capacity, texture and skatole were observed. Of these peaks, a total of 10 peaks from CM10 array and 6 peaks from Q10 array were candidate soluble protein markers for pork loin quality. The developed models explained a limited proportion of the variability, however they point out interesting relationships between protein expression and meat quality.

High pressure and freezing temperature effect on quality and microbial inactivation of cured pork carpaccio.

The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP: 0, 400, and 600 MPa) and freezing temperature (-15° vs. -35°C) were evaluated on the quality and microbial inactivation of cured pork carpaccio. Samples treated with HHP resulted in lighter and yellower color, higher Chroma, shear force, scores for pink color, cooked and gel appearance, incidence of iridescence, lower scores for brightness and raw meat appearance and lower levels of lactic acid bacteria and psychrotrophs during shelf life compared with untreated samples (P<0.05). Treating carpaccio at -35°C resulted in a darker color and a more tender carpaccio with a higher rating for crumbliness and lower rating for fibrousness and chewiness compared with -15°C (P<0.05). While HHP is effective in microbial inactivation and shelf life extension of pork carpaccio, product quality may be decreased due to lower tenderness and poorer appearance. However, HHP in combination with low freezing temperature can be used successfully to deliver high quality pork carpaccio with extended shelf life to the ready-to-eat market.

Volatile profile and microbiological characterization of hollow defect in dry-cured ham.

This paper describes the physicochemical and microbiological parameters and volatile profile of the muscles surrounding the coxofemoral joint which are affected with hollow defect when compared to the part of muscles nearby which did not show this defect. Differences of the same parameters between both areas in dry-cured hams without this defect were also analyzed. Gram-positive catalase-positive cocci were the predominant flora in the muscles affected with hollow defect, with the main species being Staphyloccocus equorum, Staphylococcus nepalensis and Staphylococcus xylosus. Lactic acid bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were <2 log CFU g(-1) and Salmonella spp. was not detected. Volatile profile of samples affected with hollow defect had higher amounts of compounds such as esters, pyrazines, sulfurs and furans. There was a positive correlation between the amount of ester compounds and the hollow defect intensity. Moisture content was lower and pH values were higher in affected areas than in unaffected areas.

Risk assessment of DFD meat due to pre-slaughter conditions in pigs.

A polychotomous logistic regression model was used to identify and assess the risk factors for pork becoming dark, firm and dry meat (DFD). A total of 116 deliveries, comprising 3075 commercial pigs delivered from different farms to five commercial Spanish pig abattoirs were surveyed. The DFD condition was described as an ordinal response variable (normal, moderate and serious) based on measurements of pH(24) in the Semimembranosus muscle. The abattoir, the floor of the lorry, the season, the gender, and the stocking density during transportation influenced the risk of DFD, as well as on-farm fasting time, lairage time and estimated carcass lean content. No effect of the RYR1 gene in the risk of DFD was found. Abattoirs should be especially careful with females slaughtered in winter, where the risk of serious DFD is 4.6% higher than with males slaughtered in summer. The risk of DFD increased with high stocking density and lairage time, and with on-farm fasting times longer than 22h. Our results revealed that lowering the stocking density from 0.37 to 0.50m(2) per 100kg pig during transport would increase the risk of DFD pork by 11%.

Risk assessment of skin damage due to pre-slaughter conditions and RYR1 gene in pigs.

A polychotomous logistic regression was used to assess the risk factors for skin damage prior to slaughter. A total of 116 deliveries (15,695 pigs) from commercial farms to five Spanish pig abattoirs were surveyed. The skin damage condition was described as an ordinal response (1: no damage; 2: very slight damage; and 3: slight or more damage). The abattoir by the season (p<0.01), the floor surface of the lorry (p=0.02), and the mixing of unfamiliar pigs at loading (p=0.01) influenced the occurrence of skin blemishes. Skin damage increased with on-farm fasting time (p<0.01), loading time (p<0.01), lairage time (p<0.01), as well as with carcass weight (p<0.01). In winter transports the risk of skin damage decreased (p<0.01) at higher space allowance in the lorry. The risk of developing PSE and DFD pork increased with the skin damage score (p<0.01). The nn genotype for the RYR1 gene was less prone to skin damage but at the same time it is more sensitive to skin damage in relation to PSE risk. It is concluded that the skin damage score can be used as a rapid indicator of animal welfare and pork quality.

Eating quality of young bulls from three Spanish beef breed-production systems and its relationships with chemical and instrumental meat quality.

Sensory characteristics of longissimus thoracis muscle from three local Spanish beef breed-production systems and their relationships with chemical and instrumental meat quality traits were studied. Young bulls of Bruna dels Pirineus (BP; n=69), Avileña-Negra Ibérica (A-NI; n=70) and Morucha (MO; n=70) breeds were reared in their own production systems. MO breed showed the highest water holding capacity and also the highest thawing loss and haem pigment content (P<0.001). No differences in moisture and protein contents were found among breeds. A-NI showed the highest intramuscular fat (IMF, P<0.05) and total collagen (P<0.001) contents, whereas BP showed the lowest IMF content (P<0.05) and the highest collagen solubility (P<0.001). Beef flavour, tenderness and juiciness accounted for the eating quality differences among the three breed-production systems. Meat from A-NI was rated significantly higher (P<0.01) for beef flavour and tenderness than that from BP and MO animals. Furthermore, MO showed the lowest juiciness (P<0.001) which could be due to its higher thawing loss. Within the three breeds, thawing loss was negatively correlated with juiciness and, likewise cooking loss with juiciness and tenderness (P<0.05). The canonical discriminant analysis showed that the three breeds were significantly different (P<0.05) from each other according to sensory attributes, which justifies their involvement in different protected geographical indications (PGI).

Beliefs and attitudes of butchers and consumers towards dry-cured ham.

The objectives were to evaluate the attitude of butcher and consumer towards soft and pasty texture problems in dry-cured ham and to assess the butcher and consumer behaviour when selecting and purchasing this product. Ninety-nine butchers and 200 consumers were interviewed with 17-question and 20-question surveys, respectively. The texture problems (softness and pastiness) were highly important for both butchers and consumers. The characteristics most frequently considered "important" or "very important" by butchers were processing time, smell/aroma and texture as selection criteria and salty taste and aged/matured flavour as sensory indicators of dry-cured ham quality. According to butchers' opinion, salty taste and their own advice are the factors most frequently considered "important" or "very important" as affecting the consumer's decision to purchase. For the consumer, the sensory attributes were considered more important than extrinsic characteristics when purchasing dry-cured ham.

Sensory characterisation and consumer acceptability of small calibre fermented sausages with 50% substitution of NaCl by mixtures of KCl and potassium lactate.

The effect of six mixtures with 50% molar substitution of KCl (0-50%) and potassium lactate (0-50%) as NaCl substitutes in small calibre fermented sausages on some sensory parameters and on the acceptability was studied. Also, the relationship between sensory profile and consumer acceptability using external preference mapping was investigated. The results showed that as the K-lactate substitution increased, pH, sweetness, crumbliness and pastiness also increased, and piquantness, hardness, cohesiveness, ripened flavour, acid taste and saltiness decreased. However, the treatments prepared with a high level of salt substitution by KCl showed scores of sensory attributes similar to those of the control. Consumer segmentation showed differences in acceptability between genders, place of residence, educational level and age group. Consumers rejected fermented sausages with high K-lactate substitution but not those with a high KCl substitution. External preference mapping split consumers up into four clusters with different preference patterns. According to these results and from a sensory point of view, it is possible to achieve a reduction of 50% of NaCl in small calibre fermented sausages and to obtain a product acceptable to most consumers.

Effect of a 10-day ageing at 30°C on the texture of dry-cured hams processed at temperatures up to 18°C in relation to raw meat pH and salting time.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a 10-day ageing at 30±2°C on the texture of dry-cured hams processed at temperatures up to 18±2°C for 12 months in relation with raw ham pH and salting time. Three pH groups (semimembranosus muscle at 24h post-mortem: Low pH<5.7, Medium pH=5.7⩽pH⩽5.9, and High pH>5.9), three salting times (6d, 10d and 14d) and two ageing temperatures (18°C and 30°C) were investigated. Physicochemical characteristics, instrumental and sensory texture and product sliceability were evaluated on biceps femoris and semimembranosus muscles. Hams with pH(SM24)<5.7 should be avoided in order to reduce the incidence of texture problems in dry-cured ham elaboration. Texture problems are especially important in hams with a reduced salt content that are mechanically sliced (not frozen). A 10-day ageing at 30°C could be useful for reducing the soft texture problems in dry-cured hams processed at temperatures up to 18°C for 12 months without affecting the product flavour.

High pressure applied to frozen ham at different process stages. 1. Effect on the final physicochemical parameters and on the antioxidant and proteolytic enzyme activities of dry-cured ham.

This paper describes the effect of high pressure (400MPa and 600MPa) applied to frozen hams at early stages of the dry-cured ham process: green hams (GH) and hams at the end of the resting stage (ERS), on some physicochemical parameters and on antioxidant and proteolytic enzyme activities in the final product. No significant differences were observed among treatments either in the drying kinetics or in the physicochemical characteristics. However, when high-pressure was applied to frozen GH hams it produced a superficial denaturation that affected salt absorption and, consequently, the proteolysis index. The high-pressure treatment applied during the processing of previously frozen GH and ERS hams reduced the antioxidant enzyme activities slightly (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) but did not affect the cathepsin B and the cathepsin B+L activities.

High pressure applied to frozen ham at different process stages. 2. Effect on the sensory attributes and on the colour characteristics of dry-cured ham.

This paper describes the effect of high pressure (400MPa and 600MPa) applied to frozen hams at early stages of the dry-cured ham process: green hams (GH) and hams at the end of the resting stage (ERS), on the appearance, some texture and flavour parameters and on the instrumental colour characteristics of dry-cured hams. Pressurized hams showed slightly lower visual colour intensity than the control ones. In general, pressurization did not have a significant effect on the flavour characteristics of the final product. The 600-MPa hams from the ERS process showed significantly lower crumbliness and higher fibrousness scores than the control and the 400-MPa hams. However, none of these differences were enough to affect the overall sensory quality of the hams negatively. Regarding instrumental colour characteristics (L(∗)a(∗)b(∗)), an increase in lightness was observed in the biceps femoris muscle from GH hams pressurized at 400MPa and 600MPa but not in the ERS hams.

Nutritional and sensory quality of porcine raw meat, cooked ham and dry-cured shoulder as affected by dietary enrichment with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and α-tocopheryl acetate.

The effects of dietary enrichment of pig diets with DHA from a marine source (Algatrium(®)) and α-tocopheryl acetate on the nutritional and sensory characteristics of pork and pork products were evaluated. Raw and cooked hams, and dry-cured shoulders from pigs fed with three diets (control, control supplemented with 0.3% DHA plus 50ppm α-tocopheryl acetate and control with 200ppm α-tocopheryl acetate) were used. The treatments did not cause any significant differences in proteolytic and antioxidant enzyme activities, except on catalase (CAT) which increased significantly in raw hams from pigs fed DHA supplemented diets. Vitamin E accumulated in samples with α-tocopheryl acetate supplementation. DHA added to the diet increased the DHA level by 87% compared with the control treatment in both raw and dry-cured shoulders, and exceeded 82% in cooked hams. In consequence, the incorporation of the n-3 source in the diet significantly reduced the n-6/n-3 ratio in all products. The ratio reduction ranged from 51% in dry-cured shoulders to 65% in cooked and raw hams. No significant differences were found among treatments in the sensory parameters evaluated in the cooked hams. Fishy odour and flavour were not detected in any sample by the trained panel. However, reduced cured and aged flavours and a stronger fishy flavour were found in dry-cured shoulders from pigs on the DHA enriched treatment; while, α-tocopheryl acetate supplementation had negligible influence on flavour.