Spray-chilling system in the initial cooling process of swine half carcasses

This research was carried out with the objective of evaluating the effects of using a chilling water sprinkler system during the cooling process of swine carcasses on the quantitative and qualitative parameters of carcass and meat. A total of 220 swine carcasses were divided in a completely randomized experiment and two treatments: (1) CONTROL, no water spraying; (2) SPRAY, with water spraying during cooling. Surface and internal temperature of carcasses throughout the cooling process, initial and final pH, and microbiological analyses of carcass surface were evaluated. Samples of the Longissimus lumborum (LL) were collected for analysis of color, cooking loss (CL), shear force (SF), and drip loss (DL). Data were submitted to analysis of variance through the SAS MIXED procedure adopting the most adequate model with treatments as fixed effects and pertinent random effects for each data set. The use of spray-chilling in the initial cooling process accelerates the surface and internal temperature decrease of swine carcasses, which may be a viable technological resource in swine industry.

Limiting Pink Discoloration in Cooked Ground Turkey in the Absence or Presence of Sodium Tripolyphosphate Produced from Presalted and Stored Raw Ground Breasts

The effects of pink inhibiting ingredients (PII) to eliminate the pink color defect in cooked turkey breast produced from presalted and stored raw ground turkey in the absence or presence of sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) were examined. Ground turkey breast was mixed with 2% sodium chloride and vacuum packaged. After storage for 6 d, ten PII were individually incorporated without or with added STP (0.5%) as follows: none (control), citric acid (CA; 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%), calcium chloride (CC; 0.025%, 0.05%), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA; 0.005%, 0.01%), and sodium citrate (SC; 0.5%, 1.0%). Treatments were cooked at a fast or slow cooking rate, cooled, and stored before analysis. All PII tested were capable of lowering inherent pink color compared to the control (No STP: CIE a* pooled day reduction of 23.0%, 5.2%, 12.6%, and 12.6% for CA, CC, EDTA, and SC, respectively; STP: reduction of 21.5%, 17.4%, 6.0%, and 18.2% for CA, CC, EDTA, and SC, respectively). For samples without STP, fast cooking rate resulted in higher CIE a*. However, slow cooking resulted in more red products than fast cooking when samples included STP. Presalting and storage of ground turkey caused the pink discoloration in uncured, cooked turkey (CIE a* 6.24 and 5.12 for without and with STP). This pink discoloration can be decreased by inclusion of CA, CC, EDTA, or SC, but incorporation of CA decreased cooking yield. In particular, the addition of SC may provide some control without negatively impacting the cooking yield.

Effects of Lemon Extract Powder and Vinegar Powder on the Quality Properties of Naturally Cured Sausages with White Kimchi Powder

This study investigated the effects of lemon extract powder and vinegar powder on the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of pork sausages naturally cured using white kimchi powder during storage for 30 days. Six batches were included: control (0.01% sodium nitrite and 0.05% sodium ascorbate); treatment 1 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 0.5% lemon extract powder); treatment 2 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 1.0% lemon extract powder); treatment 3 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 0.5% vinegar powder); treatment 4 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 1.0% vinegar powder); and treatment 5 (0.3% white kimchi powder, 0.5% lemon extract powder, and 0.5% vinegar powder). Treatment 2 had significantly lower pH values and higher cooking loss than the other batches (p<0.05). Treatments 1, 2, and 5 had similar (p>0.05) CIE a* as the control, while treatments 3 and 4 showed significantly lower values (p<0.05). The residual nitrite content in naturally cured products was lower than the control (p<0.05), while treatments 1 and 2 showed significantly higher nitrosyl hemochrome content and curing efficiency (p<0.05). TBARS values were similar for all treatments and the control (p>0.05). Treatments 1 and 2 showed significantly reduced aerobic plate counts (APC; p<0.05) than the control and other treatments. However, across all batches, TBARS values and APC significantly increased during storage (p<0.05). Our results suggest that lemon extract powder, rather than vinegar powder, may offer a promising alternative for supplementing the functions of nitrite in naturally cured sausages.

Use of Green Tea Extract and Rosemary Extract in Naturally Cured Pork Sausages with White Kimchi Powder

The impact of green tea extract powder and rosemary extract powder, alone or in combination, on the quality characteristics of naturally cured pork sausages produced with white kimchi powder as a nitrate source was evaluated. Ground pork sausages were assigned to one of seven treatments: control (0.01% sodium nitrite and 0.05% sodium ascorbate), treatment 1 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 0.05% green tea extract powder), treatment 2 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 0.1% green tea extract powder), treatment 3 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 0.05% rosemary extract powder), treatment 4 (0.3% white kimchi powder and 0.1% rosemary extract powder), treatment 5 (0.3% white kimchi powder, 0.05% green tea extract powder, and 0.05% rosemary extract powder), and treatment 6 (0.3% celery juice powder, 0.05% green tea extract powder, and 0.05% rosemary extract powder). Naturally cured products had lower (p<0.05) cooking yield and residual nitrite content than control sausages. However, compared to the control, naturally cured products with white kimchi powder (treatments 1 to 5) showed similar the pH, oxidation-reduction potential, CIE L* values, CIE a* values, nitrosyl hemochrome content, total pigment content, and curing efficiency to the control. When the amount of green tea extract powder or rosemary extract powder was increased to 0.1% (treatments 2 and 4), lipid oxidation was reduced (p<0.05). These results indicate that green tea extract powder, rosemary extract powder, and white kimchi powder may provide an effective solution to replace synthetic nitrite and ascorbate used in traditionally cured products.

The Effects of Addition Timing of NaCl and Sodium Tripolyphosphate and Cooking Rate on Pink Color in Cooked Ground Chicken Breasts

The current study investigated the effects of timing of NaCl (2%) and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP, 0.5%) addition and cooking rates on color and pigment properties of ground chicken breasts. Four treatments were tested as follows: treatment 1, no NaCl and STPP added and stored for 7 d; treatment 2, NaCl+STPP added on 0 d and stored for 7 d; treatment 3, NaCl added on 0 d and STPP added on 7 d; and treatment 4, stored for 7 d and NaCl+STPP added. All samples were cooked at a fast (5.67°C/min) or slow cooking rate (2.16°C/min). Regardless of the timing of NaCl and STPP addition, reflectance ratios of nitrosyl hemochrome, cooking yield, pH values, oxidation-reduction potential, and percent myoglobin denaturation were similar (p>0.05) across treatments 2, 3, and 4. The highest CIE a* values were observed in treatment 4 (p<0.05), while treatment 2 was effective in reducing the redness in cooked chicken products. The fast cooking rate resulted in lower CIE a* values and higher CIE L* values and cooking yield in cooked chicken breasts compared to the slow cooking rate. Our results indicate that adding NaCl and STPP to meat, followed by storing and cooking at a fast rate, may result in inhibiting the pink color defect sporadically occurred in cooked ground chicken breasts.

Presalting Condition Effects on the Development of Pink Color in Cooked Ground Chicken Breasts

The effects of presalting conditions (storage temperature and duration) with/without sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) on the color and pigment characteristics of cooked ground chicken breast were investigated. Meat mixtures containing 2% NaCl (control) or 2% NaCl and 0.5% STPP (STPP treatment) were stored for 0, 3, 5, 7, and 10 d at 2°C or 7°C, followed by cooking to 75°C, and cooling and storage at 2°C-3°C until further analysis. The treatment was the most effective on the pink color defect of all independent variables. The effect of storage temperature was only observed on CIE L* values and percentage myoglobin denaturation (PMD). The control was redder than the STPP treated samples and the CIE a* values increased (p<0.05) from 0 to 5 d in the control and STPP treated samples. Compared to the STPP treatment, the control exhibited increased reducing conditions (more negative oxidation reduction potential), lower undenatured myoglobin, and greater PMD. No differences in the cooking yields of the control and STPP-treated samples were observed for various storage durations. Products with STPP showed higher (p<0.05) pH values than those without STPP, but no differences (p>0.05) in PMD were observed over the storage period in the control and STPP treated samples, except for day 0. Thus, STPP is effective at reducing the pink color in cooked chicken breasts. In addition, presalting for longer than 5 d resulted in increased pink color of the cooked chicken breasts.

Presence of lipid oxidation products in swine diet lowers pork quality and stability during storage

Studies examining the effects of feeding lipid oxidation products (LOPs) to pigs on pork quality and storage stability have mostly focused on refrigerated storage and produced mixed results. We investigated the effects of adding yellow grease, containing commercially relevant levels of LOPs, to swine diets on quality and storage stability of ground salted pork. Twenty-four domestic pigs were divided into three study groups and fed the following diet regimens for five months: (1) Standard Diet (STD), (2) STD + yellow grease (YG, high LOPs), or (3) STD + corn oil (CO, negligible LOPs). Post-harvest carcass characteristics and the effects of frozen and refrigerated storage on color and lipid oxidation of salted pork patties were studied. While feeding of yellow grease had no impact on color, it increased the susceptibility of pork patties to lipid oxidation during storage (186% and 73% higher accumulation of LOPs in patties from pigs fed STD + YG when compared to those fed STD and STD + CO, respectively).

Effect of NaCl Concentration and Cooking Temperature on the Color and Pigment Characteristics of Presalted Ground Chicken Breasts

This study was conducted to determine the effects of NaCl concentration and cooking temperature on the color and pigment characteristics of presalted ground chicken breasts. Four treatments with different salt concentrations (0%, 1%, 2%, and 3%) were prepared and stored for 7 d prior to cooking. Each sample was cooked to four endpoint temperatures (70°C, 75°C, 80°C, and 85°C). The salt concentration affected the color and pigment properties of the cooked ground chicken breasts. As the salt concentration increased, the cooking yield and residual nitrite content also increased. However, the samples with 1%, 2%, and 3% NaCl showed similar nitrosyl hemochrome and total pigment contents. Among the products containing salt, the samples with 3% NaCl showed the lowest percentage myoglobin denaturation (PMD) and the lowest CIE a* values. The cooking temperature had limited effects on the pigment properties of cooked ground chicken breasts. The oxidation-reduction potential and residual nitrite contents increased with cooking temperature, while the PMD, nitrosyl hemochrome, total pigment contents and CIE a* values were similar in the samples cooked at different temperatures. These results indicated that the addition of up to 2% salt to ground chicken breasts and storage for 7 d could cause the pink color defect of cooked products. However, the addition of 3% NaCl could reduce the redness of the cooked products.