1 mL aliquot of the homogenates was redissolved in 20 mL of the 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer and then dispensed in a 4 mL quartz spectrofluorometer cell. Emission spectra of Schiff bases were recorded from 400 to 500 nm with the excitation wavelength set at 350 nm (LS 55 Perkin-Elmer luminescence spectrometer, MA,USA). Excitation and emission slit widths were set at 10 nm and data were collected at 500 nm/min in both measurements. The results obtained were expressed as fluorescence intensity units emitted by protein oxidation products at 450 nm. These values were corrected according to the protein content of each dry-cured loin batch by multiplying by a correction factor (Cf = Pt/Pp), where Pt is the total average of the protein contents from all meat products and Pp is the mean of the protein content from each meat product.