Micro-electrophoretic study of the Sarcoplasmic fraction in the dry-cured goat raw ham.

The water-soluble protein fractions in the “Violino di capra” goat dry cured ham were studied by using the “Lab-on-a-chip” version of a size-based capillary electrophoresis, and the results were compared with those obtained from the analysis of the corresponding fraction of pork meat and raw ham. The system automatically determined the relative concentration of each protein present in the sarcoplasmic fraction samples, where the nearly all proteins ranged from 24 kDa to 62.5 kDa, and made possible a supposition of the proteolysis process taking place after ripening of the goat raw ham. We propose the use of such technique as high-quality and routine analysis method in the biochemistry of food proteins.