Effect of the smoking using Brazilian reforestation woods on volatile organic compounds, lipid oxidation, microbiological and hedonic quality of bacons during shelf life

Comparative study of ultrasound application versus mechanical agitation on pork belly brining for bacon production

Pork belly brining is a time-consuming step of bacon production that needs to be studied and enhanced through suitable technologies. In this sense, this study aimed at evaluating the impact of ultrasound (US), mechanical agitation (AG), and static brine (SB) on the kinetics of water loss (WL), solids gain (SG), and salt content (SC) of pork belly during brining under different temperatures. Mathematical models were used to estimate mass transfer rates, equilibrium parameters, and thermodynamic properties. Peleg model was chosen as the most suitable model to predict the kinetics experimental data (Radj2 ≥ 0.979 and RMSE ≤ 0.014). The increase in the brine temperature increased WL, SG, and SC for all treatments. Nonlinear effects of temperature were observed for WL, SG, and SC, following an Arrhenius-type behavior. The assistance of ultrasound significantly enhanced the velocity of WL, SG, and SC by 32-56%, while AG improved by 18-39% both compared to SB. Brining was considered an endothermic and non-spontaneous process through the thermodynamic assessment. The increase in temperature and the AG and US processes accelerated the formation of the activated complex. The application of ultrasound was considered the most suitable technology to reduce the brining time. However, significant improvements can be obtained by mechanical agitation. Therefore, both methods can be used to reduce the time processing of pork belly aiming at accelerating the bacon production process.

The Effect of Gelatin Coating and Sonication on the Quality Properties of Wet-Aging Pork Loins

In this study, we evaluate the effect of gelatin coating and sonication of wet-aged pork loin on quality. The moisture content of wet-aged pork loin with sonication and gelatin coating was the highest in the G5S sample (5% gelatin coating and sonication), while the moisture content of wet-aged pork loin with sonication was higher than that without sonication. The pH of wet-aged pork loin with sonication was lower than that without sonication. The aging loss of 5% gelatin coating with sonication was significantly lower than that of G0 (control), while the cooking loss was the lowest in G0 wet-aged pork loin. The water holding capacity of the wet-aged pork loin was the highest in G1. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value of wet-aged pork loin was significantly decreased with coating and not affected by sonication. The gelatin coating and sonication treatment significantly increased the myofibrillar fragmentation index of the samples. Shear force of wet-aged pork loin significantly decreased as the samples were gelatin-coated and sonicated. The myofibrillar and total protein solubilities were not significantly different between samples. In conclusion, the 1% gelatin coating with sonication can enhance the quality of wet-aged pork loin.

Flavor formation based on lipid in meat and meat products: A review

Meat product is popular throughout the world due to its unique taste. Flavor is one of the most important quality characteristics of meat products and also is a key influencing factor in the overall acceptability of meat products. The flavor of meat products is formed by precursors undergoing a series of complex reactions. During meat product processing, lipids are hydrolyzed by lipase to produce flavor precursors such as free fatty acid, then further oxidized to form volatile flavor compounds. This review summarizes lipolysis, lipid oxidation, and interaction of lipid with Maillard reaction and amino acid during meat products processing and storage as well as influencing factors on lipid degradation including raw meat (source of meat, feeding pattern, and castration), processing methods (thermal processing, nonthermal processing, salting, and fermentation) and additives. Meanwhile, the volatile compounds produced by lipids in meat products including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, and hydrocarbons are summed up. Analytical methods of volatile compounds and the application of lipidomics analysis in mechanisms of flavor formation of meat products are also reviewed. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Flavor is one of the most important quality characteristics of meat products, which influences the acceptability of meat products for consumption. Lipids play an important role in the flavor formation of meat products. Understanding the relationship between flavor compounds and changes in lipid compositions during the processing and storage of meat products will be helpful to control the quality of meat products.

Heterocyclic aromatic amine contents and quality characteristics of bacon as influenced by NaCl concentration of brine

Bacon usually have a high salt content. Excessive intake of salt could cause a harm to human health. Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are carcinogenic and mutagenic heterocyclic compounds formed by the reactions of precursor substances at high temperature. This study investigated the influence of different levels of NaCl on the HAA contents and quality characteristics of bacon. Moisture, a_w , L* value, b* value, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS), and carbonyl content increased significantly with a decrease in the NaCl concentration of the brine (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between treatments for a* value, pH, creatine content, sensory redness, bitterness, or off-odor (p > 0.05). Sensory evaluation showed that saltiness in bacon increased significantly with increased NaCl concentrations in brine. The increased NaCl concentrations decreased the total HAAs in fried bacon (p < 0.05). Moreover, the nonpolar HAA contents in bacon were higher than the polar HAA contents; salt concentration mainly affected the nonpolar HAA content. In summary, salt content had a significant influence on the HAA content and the quality characteristic of bacon.

Evaluation of volatile flavor compounds in bacon made by different pig breeds during storage time

The oxidation and volatile constituents of bacon (which made of white pig (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) and black pig (Beijing Black × Yorkshire)) during refrigerated storage were analyzed by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), total thiol groups, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography coupling with ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). The TBARS value of tested samples increased while the total thiol groups decreased during 60 days storage (P < 0.05). Volatile fingerprint results were obtained by GC-MS and GC-IMS detector, the classes and contents of volatile compounds detected in WP bacon were much abundant than BP bacon. Higher phenols and acids concentrations were observed in WP bacon, while alcohols, ketones, and nitrogen-containing compounds were more determined in BP bacon. Besides, WP bacon was more notably affected by storage rather than BP bacon, and the difference of raw material is the main reason for the flavor in WP and BP bacon comparing with the storage process.

Meat quality characteristics of pork bellies in relation to fat level

OBJECTIVE

Pork belly is considered as the most commercially important and preferable primal cut by consumers worldwide. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the effects of fat levels on the meat quality characteristics of pork bellies.

METHODS

Seventy-eight growing-finishing pigs collected from different commercial pig farms were slaughtered and used in the present study. After slaughter 24 h, bellies were fabricated according to the Korean Pork Cutting Specification, and immediately sampled for analysis of their fat content. Based on the fat levels, the bellies were segregated into three different groups: low fat (LF, fat ≤20%, n = 15), medium fat (MF, fat 21% to 30%, n = 30), and high fat (HF, fat ≥31%, n = 33). The bellies were then analyzed for meat quality traits, fatty acids, flavor compounds and eating quality properties.

RESULTS

The HF group had lower moisture and cooking loss levels compared to the other groups (p<0.05). The LF group presented higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to the other groups (p<0.05). The LF group showed higher amounts of the Maillard reaction-derived flavor compounds (e.g., 2,5-dimethyl pyrazine, 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethyl, and 4-methylthiazole) associated with meaty and roasty flavors whereas, the HF group showed higher amounts of oleic acid- derived compounds (e.g., nonanal and octanal) associated with the fatty and oily flavors. Interestingly, significantly higher scores for all the eating quality attributes (flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and overall acceptance) were found in the HF group compared to those in the LF or MF group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

The high-fat bellies (fat ≥31%) had a better technological quality and eating quality compared to the low-fat bellies (fat ≤20%). Thus, increasing the fat content may improve the technological quality and eating quality traits of pork bellies, however, this increase may also result in more trimmed loss due to excessively deposited body fat.