**1. Introduction**

Spain ranks second in the European Union as regards pork production (4530,480–24,075,087 t) [1]. Among Spanish pork products, the most popular is the drycured ham (Jamón), the consumption per capita of which exceeds 1.60 kg [2]; it is typically offered as cured ham slices sold in trays owing to the increasing consumer demand for ready-to-eat products [3]. Dry-cured ham is a meat product highly appreciated by consumers because of its sensory characteristics made with pig hind limbs processed under traditional practices [4] that include salting, washing, draining, drying, and curing. This meat product is available under four official labels: "Jamón Serrano Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG)", "Jamón de Trévelez Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)", "Jamón de Serón Protected Geographical Indication" and "Jamón de Teruel Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)".

Meat product quality is determined by physicochemical, sensory, and hygienicsanitary properties [5], and many factors can affect these parameters in dry-cured ham, such as raw material [6] or processing technologies [7] such as salting [8] cutting [9], and drying, which has an effect on texture [10].

Seasoning is used to aromatize meat products and make them safe from a microbiological and physicochemical perspective [11,12]. Unlike other Spanish meat products [13,14], which are manufactured with the most popular spices (white and black pepper, garlic, and paprika), dry-cured ham is typically seasoned only with salt. Other additives are sometimes

**Citation:** Gómez-Sáez, E.M.; Moratalla-López, N.; Alonso, G.L.; Vergara, H. Partial Characterization of the Impact of Saffron on the Sensory and Physicochemical Quality Traits of Dry-Cured Ham. *Foods* **2021**, *10*, 1506. https://doi.org/10.3390/ foods10071506

Academic Editor: Mohammed Gagaoua

Received: 24 May 2021 Accepted: 25 June 2021 Published: 29 June 2021

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**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

used, such as sugar, antioxidants (E-301), preservatives (E-250 and E-252), and acidity corrector (E-331iii). However, saffron (the dried stigmas of *Crocus sativus* L.), one of the most important flavoring spices in Spain, has not ye<sup>t</sup> been used. Some studies confirm that saffron alleviates inflammatory diseases such as diabetes [15] and cardiovascular diseases [16] and has preventive effects on cancer [17,18]. Saffron is composed of a group of carotenoids, crocetin sugar esters, picrocrocin, and a wide array of ketones and terpenic aldehydes, with safranal being the most important compound [19–23] that contributes to more than 70% of the aroma of Spanish saffron [22]. Safranal (2,6,6-trimethyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene-1- carboxaldehyde), which results from the hydrolysis of picrocrocin [24], is credited with specific bioactive effects, such as satiety-inducing, antidepressant, and neuroprotective effects [19,25] and protective effects on ischemia-induced PC12 cell injury through inhibition of oxidative stress and apoptosis [26]; safranal may also be used in future research on the treatment of schizophrenia [27].

Currently, saffron, which its use dates back to the Sumerians [28], is added to the main food dishes in different Mediterranean countries [28] as a natural food additive for coloring and flavoring [29], without limitation in culinary purposes (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of The Council of 16 December 2008 on Food Additives). Saffron has no toxic effects when is used in culinary quantities [30].

To date, there are no reports on the use of saffron to seasone meat products such as dry-cured ham, however, saffron has been used to flavor cheese [31,32] and yoghurt [33]. When saffron is used to enhance the flavor of foods, it is used in very small concentrations so as not to detract from the flavor of the main product. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of adding low concentrations of saffron by impregnation of sliced cured ham on the sensorial acceptance and physicochemical quality during the storage period. In addition, the transfer of aromatics from saffron to the product was assessed by analyzing the safranal content using headspace-stir bar sorptive extraction–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SBSE–GC-MS).

The results of this study will contribute to the meat industry through the discovery of innovative products that may provide added value and have favorable health effects on consumers.

### **2. Materials and Methods**
