ABSTRACT
Consumed for centuries in many countries, dry-cured meats are characterized by a typical flavor, color, and texture that make them a high-quality product. This chapter presents the proteolysis phenomena involving muscle and microbial proteases and their resulting products, and the latest proteomic tools available for the study of proteolysis in dry-cured meats. There are three important groups of endopeptidases, or proteinases: cathepsins, calpains, and proteasomes. Traditionally, proteomics has been used to identify proteins from a mix or an extract, obtaining the characterization of the protein profile of the sample. Peptidomics is an area of science that focuses on the comprehensive characterization of peptides present in a biological sample by studying their structure, composition, interactions, and properties. Several bioactive peptides exerting antihypertensive, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities have been identified in Spanish dry-cured ham. The use of a peptidomic approach permitted the study of the differences between different genotypes in the final peptide profile of dry-cured ham.
