Development of a beef flavor lexicon and its application to compare the flavor profile and consumer acceptance of rib steaks from grass- or grain-fed cattle

Ten panelists were selected from the local community to develop a meat lexicon composed of 18 terms that describe flavor attributes found in red meats. This flavor lexicon was used to compare the flavor profile of meat from beef cattle finished on grass or grain. Steaks from grass-fed animals were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in barny, bitter, gamey, and grassy flavor, and lower in juicy and umami notes. Gamey, barny, bitter and grassy were some of the attributes inversely correlated to the degree of liking of the meat and therefore can be classified as “negative” attributes. Brothy, umami, roast beef, juicy, browned, fatty and salty are some of the attributes positively correlated to the degree of liking of beef and therefore can be identified as attributes that drive consumers’ acceptance. Steaks from grass-fed cattle were rated by consumers as slightly liked (6.08 on a 9-point scale), while steaks from grain-fed animals were rated as moderately liked (7.05 on a 9-point scale).     

Lead and cadmium in meat and meat products consumed by the population in Tenerife Island, Spain

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of lead and cadmium in chicken, pork, beef, lamb and turkey samples (both meat and meat products), collected in the island of Tenerife (Spain). Lead and cadmium were measured by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Mean concentrations of lead and cadmium were 6.94 and 1.68 µg kg^-1 in chicken meat, 5.00 and 5.49 µg kg^-1 in pork meat, 1.91 and 1.90 µg kg^-1 in beef meat and 1.35 and 1.22 µg kg^-1 in lamb meat samples, respectively. Lead was below the detection limit in turkey samples and mean cadmium concentration was 5.49 µg kg^-1. Mean concentrations of lead and cadmium in chicken meat product samples were 3.16 and 4.15 µg kg^-1, 4.89 and 6.50 µg kg^-1 in pork meat product, 6.72 and 4.76 µg kg^-1 in beef meat product and 9.12 and 5.98 µg kg^-1 in turkey meat product samples, respectively. The percentage contribution of the two considered metals to provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) was calculated for meat and meat products. Statistically significant differences were found for lead content in meats between the chicken and pork groups and the turkey and beef groups, whereas for cadmium concentrations in meats, significant differences were observed between the turkey and chicken, beef and lamb groups. In meat products, no clear differences were observed for lead and cadmium between the various groups.     

Acceptance and Species Identification of Turkey Steaks Prepared with Beef, Pork, Lamb, and Turkey Fat

Fabricated extruded steaks were prepared from turkey meat, salt, phosphate, and water plus 15% beef, pork, lamb, or turkey fat. The grilled samples recieved relatively high hedonic scores from a sensory panel. The flavor, juiciness, and overall quality of the samples made with pork, beef, and turkey fat were preferred significantly over the samples made with lamb fat. Panel members tended to consider all samples as being pork flavored. Beef, pork, or turkey fat could be used as the fat in a fabricated, extruded steak without affecting the relative acceptability of the cooked product.     

不同抗氧化剂对烤肉制品品质的影响

为了系统、全面对比分析GB 2760—2014《食品安全国家标准食品添加剂使用标准》中规定允许添加的抗氧化剂对烤肉制品品质的影响,分别将8种抗氧化剂以国标允许最大添加量添加至鸡肉、牛肉和猪肉中,研究其对3种烤肉饼品质的影响。结果表明:不同种类抗氧化剂对不同种类烤肉饼品质的影响有一定差异,不同抗氧化剂的添加能够不同程度地增加烤肉饼的持水能力,改善其嫩度和质构特性,还有一定的保色护色作用。总体而言,竹叶提取物、甘草提取物、茶黄素及鼠尾草酸相对更适用于改善烤鸡肉饼品质,竹叶提取物、茶多酚和茶黄素对烤牛肉饼品质的改善效果相对更优,而竹叶提取物、甘草提取物和茶多酚具有相对更好的改善烤猪肉饼食用品质的能力。     

鸡蛋腌制对3种烤肉饼食用品质的影响

为系统分析传统中式菜肴烹调过程中鸡蛋腌制处理对不同肉类食用品质的影响,分别选用全蛋腌制或蛋清腌制、不同蛋清添加量腌制处理,分析其对猪肉饼、牛肉饼和羊肉饼食用品质的影响。结果表明,在添加量为10%、腌制时间为30 min时,蛋清腌制显著增加猪肉饼和羊肉饼的水分含量（P<0.05）,显著降低两种肉饼的烤制损失率、剪切力值和硬度等（P<0.05）,有效改善猪肉饼和羊肉饼的食用品质,而牛肉饼则适合选用全蛋腌制处理,能在一定程度上改善其食用品质;不同蛋清添加量对3种肉饼的食用品质有不同影响,腌制时间为30 min时,猪肉饼和羊肉饼宜选择10%蛋清添加量,牛肉饼宜选择5%蛋清添加量,此时肉饼的保水性较好,嫩度、色泽和质构特性较优,适合作为日常烹饪过程中蛋清腌制的最佳添加量推广使用,本研究为传统中式菜肴中畜肉烹饪前鸡蛋腌制的条件提供了理论支持。     

Quantitative Detection of Poultry in Cooked Meat Products

ABSTRACT: There is a growing awareness of perceived harm from meat species adulteration, both intentional and accidental. The present study developed a monoclonal antibody (Mab)-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantitative detection of chicken and turkey meat adulterated in cooked (100 °C, 15 min) mammalian meat. The specificity of Mab 5D2 to different species (pork, beef, lamb, deer, horse, duck, chicken, and turkey) and tissues (serum, gizzard, heart, and liver) was studied by noncompetitive ELISA. The detection of cooked chicken in beef, and turkey in pork was accomplished by competitive and noncompetitive ELISAs. Both ELISAs were optimized to quantify cooked poultry in red meats. The new Mab-based ELISAs enabled the detection of cooked poultry in red meats at levels as low as 1% (v/v) or better. The correlation ( r > 0.994) between chicken or turkey concentrations and ELISA signals permitted the quantification of poultry adulterants in cooked non-poultry meats.     

Occurrence of pathogens in raw and ready-to-eat meat and poultry products collected from the retail marketplace in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

A total of 800 meat and poultry products were purchased from the retail marketplace in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The products consisted of raw ground beef, chicken legs, pork chops, and ready-to-eat fermented sausage, roast beef, processed turkey breast, chicken wieners, and beef wieners. The samples were analyzed to determine the prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli 022: H8 was found in one raw ground beef sample. Salmonella and Campylobacter were found in 30 and 62% of raw chicken legs, respectively. L. monocytogenes was found in 52% of raw ground beef, 34% of raw chicken legs, 24% of raw pork chops, 4% of fermented sausages, 3% of processed turkey breast, 5% of beef wieners, and 3% of chicken wieners. The occurrence of pathogens in this study is similar to that in retail products in many other international locales.     

Optimization of emulsion characteristics of beef, chicken and turkey meat mixtures in model system using mixture design

Emulsion pH (pHe), emulsion capacity (EC), emulsion stability (ES), emulsion density (ED) and apparent yield stress of emulsion (raw emulsion, AYSe) and emulsion gel (cooked emulsion, AYSg) of beef, chicken and turkey meats and their mixtures were studied using a model system.

Turkey meat homogenate was found to have higher protein concentration than chicken or beef homogenates. The highest pHe, EC and ES values and the lowest ED and AYSe values were found in chicken meat. However, the highest AYSg value was found in chicken–turkey meat mixture. Generally, the increasing amount of chicken meat in mixtures increased EC and ES, and decreased ED and AYSe values. Also, chicken–turkey meat mixtures had lower ES values than the mixtures containing only chicken or only turkey meat. With beef, the addition of chicken and turkey meats improved emulsion characteristics significantly. Optimum levels of beef, chicken and turkey meats were found to be 0–23%, 9–30% and 53–91% respectively.     

Detection of meat species using TaqMan real-time PCR assays

Species-specific real-time PCR (TaqMan) assays were developed for detection of beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey. Assays were developed around small (amplicons <150 base pairs) regions of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene. Speciation was achieved using species-specific primers. For detection purposes, two TaqMan probes were developed; the first was specific to the mammalian species (beef, lamb and pork), the second to the poultry species (chicken and turkey). Normal end-point TaqMan PCR conditions were applied; however, PCR was limited to 30 cycles. Applying the assays to DNA extracts from raw meat admixtures, it was possible to detect each species when spiked in any other species at a 0.5% level. The absolute level of detection, for each species, was not determined; however, experimentally determined limits for beef, lamb and turkey were below 0.1%.     

IDENTIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF LAMB VERSUS BEEF AND PORK BY CONSUMERS AND EXPERIENCED SENSORY PANELISTS

Lamb, beef, and pork patties containing ≈ 21% fat were pan-fried to 71C and evaluated by consumers (n=71) and experienced laboratory sensory panelists (n=12) to determine to what extent panelists could correctly identify the species and to document the probable basis of their identification. When six samples (the first three samples representing the first servings of the three species and the next three representing the second servings) were served one at a time, 59%, 49%, and 32% of consumer panelists correctly identified both servings of lamb, beef, and pork, respectively, compared to 67%, 50%, and 33%, respectively, by experienced laboratory panelists. Sensory attribute scores and correlation data on correctly identified samples indicated that flavor intensity of lamb and pork patties did not have positive effects on their overall palatability, whereas flavor intensity of beef patties had positive effects. Lamb patties were rated most intense in flavor and lowest in overall palatability.     

Quantification of beef,pork, chicken and turkey proportions in sausages: use of matrix-adapted standards and comparison of single versus multiplex PCR in an interlaboratory trial

Quantitative PCR methods for the determination of beef, pork, chicken and turkey proportions in sausage were tested in an interlaboratory trial. Twelve different laboratories analysed six meat products each made of different compositions of beef, pork, chicken and turkey. Two kinds of calibrators were used: sausages of known proportions of meat and DNA from muscle tissue. Results generated using calibration sausages were more accurate than those resulting from the use of muscle tissue DNA. Regardless of the method used (either multiplex or single PCR), when using calibration sausages, it was always possible to quantify the proportions of meats in the unknown samples (in the range of 0.5–80%) with high precision and accuracy.     

ACCEPTABILITY OF BEEF PATTIES EXTENDED WITH PORK AND/OR TEXTURED SOY PROTEIN1

Four beef or beef/pork ground meat blends were extended with textured soy protein (TSP) at 0, 10, 20 and 30% levels. Ground beef/pork/textured soy protein (TSP) patties with 30% TSP were rated lowest by consumers for raw color and appearance and overall cooked appearance. A beef (50%) and pork (30%) blend containing no TSP was rated highest by consumers for tenderness, flavor and overall desirability and higher by a trained sensory panel for flavor and overall desirability than blends containing TSP. Overall desirability ratings for visual and palatability characteristics of beef/pork meat patties were higher than for beef/pork/TSP blends. Results indicated a distinct advantage for palatability of the beef/pork blend as compared to beef/pork/TSP combinations.     

Species identification in food products using the bioMerieux FoodExpert-ID<Superscript>®</Superscript> system

Animal feeds and meat mixtures were analysed using the bioMerieux FoodExpert-ID^® system. The system utilises a reverse dot technique on a DNA microarray to allow the identification of over 30 species of fish, birds and mammals. DNA is amplified by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) then hybridised to the microarray chip. Using this technique, turkey and chicken were correctly identified in 100% of feed samples that contained these species above a level of 0.1%. Pig, lamb and cow could not be reliably detected below a level of 1% in feed samples. For meat mixtures, a level of 0.2% pork or chicken could be correctly identified when mixed with 50% beef or pork, respectively. When a baked or canned meat mixture was investigated, a level of 5% pork, beef or chicken could be correctly identified, following either process. The bioMerieux FoodExpert-ID^® system can therefore be used as a general screen to identify likely species present in a sample, the level of which can be confirmed using other methods.     

Effect of Several Sugars on Consumer Perception of Cured Sheepmeat

ABSTRACT:  This article reports the perception of cooked, nitrite-cured sheepmeat sausage that included 1.5% glucose, sucrose, xylose, or no sugar addition. The 4 sugar treatments were dry-cooked, vacuum packed, and stored chilled, and were hedonically assessed after 0, 1, and 2 mo. Consumers were advised that they could be eating any 1 of beef, chicken, lamb, pork, or turkey, in a salted cured preparation. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that liking of appearance, color, and texture were unaffected by sugar treatment, whereas liking of aroma, flavor, sweetness, and overall liking were markedly and significantly increased by xylose. Storage time as a factor had minimal effects on liking. In contrast, all attributes were liked more by male consumers (57%, P < 0.001). When asked to identify the meat species, lamb was correctly identified 50% of the time. With xylose, the observed frequency of lamb's misidentification as beef increased by 50% above the expected Chi-square frequency. This was largely at the expense of observed lamb selection frequency, which was 18% below expectation. When data were segregated by gender, the misidentification remained significant for males ( P  = 0.002), but was not significant for females ( P  = 0.32). The misidentification of beef for lamb may be due to the generation of Strecker aldehydes in the Maillard reaction between xylose and meat amino acids, which were shown to be greatly increased in the headspace above xylose-treated sausage. The restriction of significant misidentification to males is less easy to explain but may be associated with the possible greater sensitivity of females to volatile fatty acids, which are components of sweat.     

Palatability of Meat from Mule Deer

To determine the palatability of meat from mule deer, a 10-member trained sensory panel evaluated meat from seven mule deer harvested in Texas. Beef rib roast and venison rib roast, loin steaks and semimembranosus steaks, and ground meat patties (beef, venison, venison/beef, and venison/pork) were evaluated. Venison contained much less fat than beef. Beef was more palatable than venison except for tenderness. The main difference in palatability was that venison was less juicy than beef. Mixing ground venison with beef or pork increased the palatability of venison to that of ground beef.     

Comparison of flavor changes in cooked-refrigerated beef, pork and chicken meat patties

Beef and pork longissimus dorsi (LD) and semimembranosus (SM) and chicken breast (B) and thigh (T) muscles excised 24 h postmortem were ground by muscle/species group, formed into patties, pan-fried, refrigerated for 0, 3 or 6 days, and evaluated by a trained sensory panel for intensity of specific flavors. The rate of decline in species-specific natural meat flavor intensity and the rate of increase in "cardboard" (CBD) flavor intensity during the first half of the 6-day storage were fastest for beef, while such decline and increase during the entire storage period were slowest for chicken B. Overall trends of natural meat flavor and CBD intensity changes for chicken T appeared more like those for the red meats than chicken B. It was concluded that, while flavor deterioration can occur in cooked-stored meats from all the species, quantitative or the magnitude of differences between species would depend on muscle types and sensory terms/method used.     

Isolation and characterisation of Arcobacter butzleri from meat

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of Arcobacter in ground chicken, pork, beef and lamb meats. Meat samples were enriched in Arcobacter broth (AB) containing cefoperazone, amphotericin and teicoplanin (CAT) supplement. Samples were screened for the presence of Arcobacter spp. using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by isolation on blood and selective agar. Arcobacter butzleri was the only species of Arcobacter isolated from 35% of 88 samples of ground meats. A. butzleri was more frequently isolated from poultry (73%) than pork (29%), beef (22%) or lamb (15%) samples. No significant differences were found in the isolation rates and from the different regions sampled. Isolates were characterised by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using SacII, EagI and SmaI restriction endonucleases. A number of isolates with indistinguishable PFGE fingerprints were found to be epidemiologically related, which may indicate cross-contamination of common types of Arcobacter from different meat species or between meat species. The public health significance of Arcobacter in ground meat needs to be determined.     

Meat species identification and Halal authentication using PCR analysis of raw and cooked traditional Turkish foods

The method performance characteristics of commercially available PCR kits for animal species identification were established. Comminuted meat products containing different levels of pork were prepared from authentic beef, chicken, and turkey. These meat products were analysed in the raw state and after cooking for 20 min at 200 °C. For both raw and cooked meats, the PCR kit could correctly identify the animal species and could reliably detect the addition of pork at a level below 0.1%. A survey of 42 Turkish processed meat products such as soudjouk, salami, sausage, meatball, cured spiced beef and doner kebap was conducted. Thirty-six samples were negative for the presence of pork (< 0.1%) and four were found to be correctly labelled as containing pork. However, one sausage sample was labelled as containing 5% beef, but beef DNA was not detected and a meatball sample labelled as 100% beef was found to contain chicken. Another turkey meatball sample was predominantly chicken.     

Variations in Radiation Sensitivity of Foodborne Pathogens Associated with the Suspending Meat

Longissimus dorsi from beef, pork, and lamb and turkey breast and leg meats were inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus, and the gamma radiation resistance of the pathogens were determined under identical conditions. At 5°C the respective radiation D-values of E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes did not vary with the suspending meat. The D-value for a mixture of Salmonella spp. was significantly lower on pork than on beef, lamb, turkey breast, and turkey leg meats. The D-value for S. aureus was significantly lower on lamb and mechanically deboned chicken meat than on the other meats. All values were, nevertheless, within expected ranges.     

Application of a multiplex PCR for the simultaneous detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Shigella in raw and ready-to-eat meat products

Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Shigella might contaminate similar types of meat products and cause deadly diseases in humans. Traditional microbiological analyses to detect these pathogens are labor-intensive and time-consuming. The objective of this study was to apply a multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection of the pathogenic bacteria in certain raw and ready-to-eat meat matrices. The tested samples had aerobic plate counts ranging from non-detectable, in chicken nuggets and salami, to 8.36log(10)CFU/g in ground pork. The pH of homogenates spanned from 6.86, in ground beef, to 7.17 in salami. Following a 24-h enrichment, the multiplex PCR assay could concurrently detect the three pathogens at 0.2log(10)CFU/g in ground beef, roast beef, beef frankfurters, chicken nuggets, salami and turkey ham, and 1.2log(10)CFU/g in ground pork. This multiplex PCR offers an efficient microbiological tool for presumptive detection of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Shigella in meat.