U.S. FOOD SCIENTIST EXPLAINS PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA'S ROSY COLOR

20.06.2007

In a recent article in the New York Times (The Red-Meat Miracle, And Other Tales From the Butcher Case, April 4, 2007), well-known food scientist and writer Harold McGee explains the science behind the natural red color of Prosciutto di Parma:

It all starts, says McGee, with a meat protein called myoglobin, a molecule that stores oxygen and has an iron atom at its core. Oxygenated myoglobin is red, but it is not a stable pigment and can fade when exposed to the light and heat. The traditional explanation for why Prosciutto di Parma turns rosy-red as it ages is that the nitrate impurities in the sea salt used to cure the ham stabilize the myoglobin by reacting with the iron. This is what happens in nitrate-cured hams. But no nitrate or nitrite can be detected in Prosciutto di Parma and it certainly isn’t added; regulations prohibit it.

So, McGee offers another explanation. He reports that chemists in Japan and Denmark have recently demonstrated that pure salt and the passage of time collaborate to break apart the original myoglobin, creating a new stable red pigment, with iron being replaced by the mineral zinc.  Pork contains two to three times more naturally occurring zinc than iron – so there’s plenty to displace the iron.  The development of zinc pigment is very slow, however—in the Danish study researchers found that the pigment developed most rapidly between 12 and 18 months. 

So it takes patience and care to cure a Parma Ham naturally, not just for its splendid color, but for the development of its complex flavors and the silky texture that is revered the world over. For more information about this fascinating topic, visit Harold McGee’s website: 
http://news.curiouscook.com/2007/04/parma-and-iberian-hams
-red-from-zinc.html.

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