Deionized water combats quality issues in deli ham.

Deionized water lacks ions, such as cations from sodium, calcium, iron and copper. But it may still contain other non-ionic types of impurities, such as organic compounds. This type of water is produced using an ion exchange process.

Deionized water could be easily harnessed by the muscle foods industry to improve the yields and quality characteristics of muscle food products formulated with or without a percentage of pale, soft and exudative raw materials. Research at Mississippi State University reveals the potential of deionized water to increase water-holding capacity by improving yields, product juiciness and color in boneless cured pork--all without affecting consumer acceptability.

The research was designed to see how such treatment affects deionized water and pale pork percentage and how it impacts the protein functionality of chunked and formed cured smoked deli ham. Scientists did this by evaluating the water- holding capacity, texture and cooked color of the product.

Porcine semimem-branosus muscle was trimmed and diced into 2.54 cm3 cubes and then processed into cured, smoked hams consisting of 0%, 25% and 50% pale pork. Brine treatments were formulated with either 0% or 100% deionized water. Investigators utilized a randomized complete block design with four replications to test the effect of the treatments.

There were differences in cook loss and expressible moisture between the deionized and tap water treatments. A decrease of approximately 1% in cooking loss occurred when deionized water was used in the formulation. The results indicate there were some differences in the color scale among treatments. The CIE L* value for the 50% pale treatment with deionized was not different from both 25% pale treatments. But the 50% pale treatment was lighter than the 0% and 25% treatments.

Adding deionized water to the 50% pale treatment increased redness and decreased yellowness in comparison to the 50% pale treatment with tap water. Consumer acceptability was not significantly different among treatments.

Further information. Wes Schilling, Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, Mississippi State University, 110 Herzer Building, Mailstop 9805, Mississippi State, MS 39762; phone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; email: [e-mail].