Effect of cooking method on carnosine and its homologues, pentosidine and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance contents in beef and turkey meat

Commercial samples of beef and turkey meat were prepared by commonly used cooking methods with standard cooking times: (1) broiled at 200 °C for 10 min, (2) broiled at a medium temperature (140 °C) for 10 min, (3) cooked by microwave (MW) for 3 min and then grilled (MW/grill) for 7 min, (4) cooked in a domestic microwave oven for 10 min, and (5) boiled in water for 10 min. The raw and cooked meats were then analysed to determine the carnosine, anserine, homocarnosine, pentosidine, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) contents. It was observed that boiling beef caused a loss of approximately 50% of the carnosine, probably because of the high water solubility of carnosine and its homologues; cooking by microwave caused a medium loss of the anti-oxidants of approximately 20%; cooking by MW/grill led to a reduction in carnosine of approximately 10%. As far as the anserine and homocarnosine contents were concerned, a greater loss was observed for the boiling method (approximately 70%) while, for the other cooking methods, the value ranged from 30% to 70%. The data oscillate more for the turkey meat: the minimum carnosine decrease was observed in the cases of MW/grill and broiling at high temperature (25%). Analogously, the anserine and homocarnosine contents decreased slightly in the case of MW/grill and broiling at a high temperature (2-7%) and by 10-30% in the other cases. No analysed meat sample showed any traces of pentosidine above the instrumental determination limits. The cooked beef showed an increased TBARS value compared to the raw meat, and the highest values were found when the beef was broiled at a high temperature, cooked by microwave or boiled in water. The TBARS value of the turkey meat decreased for all the cooking methods in comparison to the TBARS value of the fresh meat.     

Metabolite release and protein hydrolysis during the in vitro digestion of cooked sea bass fillets. A study by 1H NMR

Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H NMR) was used to study micro-wave cooked European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fillets, along five different points of their in vitro digestion: after oral digestion, after gastric digestion and subsequent increasing of the pH to 5.0, and after 90 and 180 min of duodenal digestion. During the gastric phase, the appearance of broad signals in different spectral regions, typical of amino acid protons, provided evidence for the expected release of unstructured fragments of denatured proteins, whilst smaller peptides, with sharper signals in the same spectral regions, were becoming visible only after duodenal digestion. Prior digestion, the spectral features of trichloroacetic acid extracts, from raw and cooked fish fillets, have been analysed to assess whether a significant protein hydrolysis or metabolite release (e.g., amino acids, organic acids, saccharides, and nucleotide derivatives) already occurred during cooking, by comparing the spectral profiles of these extracts. No significant differences among the molecular profile of both extracts were found. The present study demonstrates the suitability of NMR spectroscopy to follow the kinetics of fish fillets digestion under in vitro conditions simulating human digestion.     

In vitro digestion of protein-enriched restructured beef steaks with pea protein isolate,rice protein and lentil flour following sous vide processing

The effect of plant protein inclusion in cooked meat upon in vitro gastro-intestinal (GI) digestion was investigated. Pea protein isolate, rice protein and lentil flour were used to increase the protein content in a meat model system restructured using two transglutaminase enzymes [Activa®EB (TG) and Transgluseen™-M (TS)]. Restructured beef steaks were subjected to simulated GI digestion using the static INFOGEST method. Samples taken at different digestion times were analysed using SDS-PAGE, size exclusion-HPLC, free amino acid analysis and microscopy. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed significant protein hydrolysis during GI digestion. Most soluble peptides had a molecular weight smaller than 500 Da, corresponding to peptides of <5 amino acids, regardless of food treatment. The amounts of released, free amino acids isoleucine, lysine, phenylalanine and valine were higher (P < 0.05) in lentil-enriched restructured beef steaks following GI digestion. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CSLM) revealed pronounced aggregation in digested samples. In vitro digestates of protein-enriched restructured beef steaks showed lower production of small molecular weight peptides. This study demonstrated how the bioaccessibility of protein-enriched restructured beef steaks are influenced by formulation and processing.     

Effects of transglutaminase and cooking method on the physicochemical characteristics of 3D-printable meat analogs

Mimicking the textural properties of beef remains challenging for 3D-printable meat analogs, owing to the limited extrusive force of 3D printers. We aimed to develop 3D-printable meat analogs that imitate the physicochemical properties of beef using transglutaminase (TG, 0–8 U/g protein) and cooking (steaming, microwaving, baking, or frying). Increased TG incorporation enhanced the rheological properties of the raw meat analogs. When TG was added at 4 U/g protein, the printed meat analogs had smooth surfaces after being incubated at 25 °C for 30 min and relatively high hardnesses after 2 h of incubation. Moreover, meat analogs baked at 170 °C for 25 min had a similar hardness and springiness as beef (P > 0.05). The hardnesses of cooked beef and meat analogs were related to microstructural compactness, cooking loss, and transverse shrinkage. This study provides a method for modifying the texture of meat analogs using enzyme catalysis and cooking.Industrial relevanceCurrently, the application of 3D printing in the production of meat analogs yields an elastic strength comparable to beef by implementing a fiber structure. However, modifying the textural properties of 3D-printable meat analogs to mimic the firm mouthfeel of meat is still one of the challenges that restrict the large-scale industrialization and commercialization of 3D food printing. In this study, we proposed a method for developing meat analogs, which combines enzyme treatment and suitable cooking methods, and investigated the effects of these two technologies on the physicochemical properties of 3D-printable meat analogs. This study provides essential guidance to the industry for developing meat analogs using novel protein sources and combining different technologies.     

Free Amino Acids of Raw and Cooked Ground Beef and Pork

Ground beef and ground pork were cooked for 15 min on an electric griddle heated to a surface temperature of 121°C. Cooking reduced the total free amino acid (FAA) content from 25.23 to 17.60 mg/25g fresh weight in pork and from 32.77 to 30.09 mg/25g fresh weight in beef. Sixteen FAA were detected in both beef and pork; most individual FAA decreased during heating. Residues remaining after extraction of FAA from raw pork, when rehydrated (70% moisture) and heated (121°C, 15 min), contained only trace amounts of FAA. Free amino acids apparently were not produced under the cooking conditions employed in this study.     

The retention and recovery of amino acids from pork longissimus muscle following cooking to either 60 °C or 75 °C

Samples of pork longissimus muscle (n = 16) cooked to either 60 °C or 75 °C in a water bath for 90 min were assessed for amino acid composition. Recovery of protein in the cooked meat plus the cooking juice was > 93% and was slightly higher at 60 °C (P = 0.031), but retention in the meat was only 89% and 82% for the lower and higher temperatures (P < 0.0001). Individual amino acids varied in recovery and retention with retention being particularly low for taurine and histidine. The balance of indispensable amino acids was less than ideal, with leucine and valine being the limiting amino acids by about 30% for both raw and cooked pork. Cooking had no detrimental effect on amino acid balance. Some examples of small effects of genotype and sex on amino acid composition of pork were shown.     

Cooking does not impair the impact of pulsed electric field on the protein digestion of venison (Cervus elaphus) during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

The present study was conducted to elucidate whether cooking impairs the positive effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) on the digestibility of venison during in vitro gastrointestinal protein digestion. Previous studies have used fresh uncooked meat to demonstrate the effect of PEF on protein digestibility during gastrointestinal digestion neglecting the effect that cooking could induce during meat preparation process. PEF-treated samples (T₁, 10 kV, 90 Hz, 20 µs) were cooked (core temperature of 75 °C) and subjected to in vitro simulated gastrointestinal protein digestion along with non-treated controls. A 3% increase of in vitro protein digestibility was found in cooked PEF-treated venison (P < 0.05). A positive (P < 0.05) impact of PEF processing was observed on overall protein digestion as measured by soluble protein (%) and SDS-PAGE. PEF did not change (P > 0.05) the release of minerals from cooked venison during digestion. Cooking had no negative influence on the mechanism through which PEF operates in improving the protein digestibility of venison.     

Cooking loss and juiciness of pork in relation to raw meat quality and cooking procedure

The study comprised two experiments with the aim to investigate the influence of raw meat quality and cooking procedure on cooking loss and juiciness of pork. The first experiment determined the cooking loss at 60, 70 and 80 °C centre temperature of 10 raw meat qualities (defined according to ultimate pH, drip loss, breed and rearing conditions) when cooked as steaks on a pan or as a roast in oven at a oven temperature of 90 or 190 °C. The differences in cooking loss between the raw meat qualities and the cooking procedures did decrease as the centre temperature increased and were almost negligble at 80 °C. Low water holding capacity (WHC) and low pH resulted in high cooking loss while no difference in cooking loss was observed between meat having medium or high WHC and pH. In the second experiment four raw meat qualities (standard, Duroc, low pH and heavy carcass weight) chosen from the first experiment to ensure a wide variation in cooking loss, were cooked in oven at 90 or 190 °C oven temperature. Juiciness was assessed three times during the chewing process. The results suggested that juiciness experienced initially in the chewing process depended only on the water content of the meat, whereas juiciness experienced later in the chewing process was determined by a combination of the water and intramuscular fat contents and the saliva production during chewing.     

Effect of Cooking on the Thermal Conductivity of Whole and Ground Lean Beef

The probe method was used to measure thermal conductivity of beef through a temperature range of 30–120°C. Thermal conductivity of beef increases with temperature up to 70°C followed by a decrease during the denaturation of proteins and subsequent loss of water. The thermal conductivity of beef again increases with temperature after protein denaturation. The thermal conductivity of cooked beef is lower than raw beef up to about 80°C. The rate of increase for cooked meat thermal conductivity is fairly constant with temperature at a given moisture content. Models based on composition and temperature were found to predict the thermal conductivity of meat during cooking at an average standard percent error of 7%.     

Effects of ageing and cooking on the tenderness of beef muscle

When beef sternomandibularis muscle was subjected to prolonged cooking, toughness, measured by shearing force across the grain, was reduced by about 50%. The shortened state of the muscle determined the final shear-force value attained as in normal cooking, being considerably higher in meat at 40% shortening, than in either unshortened meat or in meat shortened by 60%. The tenderising effect of ageing was additional to that from long cooking. Ageing reduced the tensile strength of the myofibrils as measured by resistance to the shearing stresses of homogenisation. Cooking tenderising resulted from a breakdown in the collagen of the interstitial connective tissue. In cooked meat distinct linkages were shown to exist between Z-lines of adjacent myofibrils. The mechanical strength of cooked meat is ascribed to the tensile strength of the fibrous components of muscle and these lateral linkages.     

Aroma development in high pressure treated beef and chicken meat compared to raw and heat treated

Chicken breast and beef muscle were treated at 400 and 600 MPa for 15 min at 5 °C and compared to raw meat and a heated sample (100 °C for 15 min). Vacuum-packed beef meat with a smaller fraction of unsaturated fatty acids showed better oxidative stability during 14 days of cold storage, as shown by a low steady-state level of hydroperoxide values, than vacuum-packed chicken meat. Accordingly, the critical pressures of 400 MPa and 600 MPa for chicken breast and beef sirloin, respectively, were established. Volatiles released after opening of the meat bags or during storage of open meat bags, simulating consumer behaviour, were measured under conditions mimicking eating. Quantitative and olfactory analysis of pressurised meat gave a total of 46 flavour volatiles, mainly alcohols (11), aldehydes (15), and ketones (11), but all in low abundance after 14 days of storage. Overall, beef meat contained less volatiles and in lower abundance (factor of 5) compared to chicken meat. The most important odour active volatiles (GC-O) were well below the detection thresholds necessary to impart a perceivable off-flavour. Lipid oxidation was significantly accelerated during 24 h of cold storage in both cooked chicken and beef when exposed to oxygen, while the pressurised and oxygen-exposed chicken and beef meat remained stable. Pressure treatment of beef and chicken did not induce severe changes of their raw aroma profiles.     

Influence of cooking conditions on cooking loss and tenderness of raw and marinated chicken breast meat

The influence of different cooking treatments on tenderness and cooking loss, as main quality characteristics of chicken breast meat, was investigated. Industrial skinless chicken breast meat samples were designated as raw and marinated and cooked in the oven by hot air and hot air-steam mixture at 130, 150 and 170 °C, for 4, 8 and 12 min. Cooking losses were evaluated by weight changes before and after cooking, and tenderness changes were determined on cooked samples by measuring shear force using instrumental texture analysis. Results showed that marination, followed by air-steam cooking is the best combination to obtain the most tender chicken breast slices. The time and temperature of cooking showed similar effects on cooking loss and tenderness: short cooking time (4 min) and temperatures of 130–150 °C resulted in lower cooking losses and best meat tenderness, in both not marinated and marinated meat. Statistically significant correlations between tenderness and cooking loss indicated that the cooking loss correlated better with cooking time than with cooking temperature. An opposite phenomenon was observed for meat tenderness.     

Comparative efficacy of actinidin from green and gold kiwi fruit extract on in vitro simulated protein digestion of beef Semitendinosus and its myofibrillar protein fraction

This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative efficacy of actinidin from green and gold kiwifruit extract on in vitro simulated gastrointestinal protein digestion of cooked beef Semitendinosus and its myofibrillar protein fraction. Samples collected during gastrointestinal digestion were analysed for protein profile, protein digestibility (%), soluble protein (%) and free amino acid analysis. The addition of kiwifruit extracts significantly (P < 0.05) increased protein digestibility, soluble protein and free amino acids released during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. The in vitro digestibility (%) of the meat samples digested along the green or the gold kiwifruit extract was 2.08% and 3.47% higher than control samples respectively. The soluble protein (%) of the meat samples digested along the green kiwifruit extract was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (18.28%) than control samples (13.03%) after gastrointestinal digestion. Comparatively, actinidin from green kiwifruit extract was more effective than gold kiwifruit extract.     

Effect of method of cooking on identification of heat processed beef using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique

Effects of various cooking methods including boiling, roasting, pressure cooking, and pan frying on species determination of beef by PCR was studied. The meat was cooked by boiling at 97.5°C for 140, 200 or 230min, by roasting at 200°C for 80, 120, or 150min or by autoclaving at 120°C for 30, 60, or 90min. The beef sample was pan fried until the meat was acceptable for sensory attributes (45min, meat temperature 115°C, fat temp 173°C) and further cooked until unacceptable. DNA was extracted from samples taken after cooking and a 271bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA was amplified by PCR. The results indicated that with the exception of pan frying for 80min, beef was determined in all meat samples including the broth and sauce of the roasted meat.     

Amino acids effects on heterocyclic amines formation and physicochemical properties in pan-fried beef patties

The effects of surface application of amino acids on the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and meat quality properties were evaluated in pan-fried beef patties (230 °C/15 min). Tryptophan, lysine, leucine, and proline at three concentrations, 0.05%, 0.20%, and 0.50% (w/w), were tested. The meat crusts were analyzed for HCA content using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results showed that surface application of all tested amino acids significantly reduced total HCA content (P < 0.05), and the interaction of amino acid type and concentration significantly affected (P < 0.05) both individual and total HCA formation. Tryptophan at 0.50% reduced total HCAs the most (0.92 ng/g, 93% inhibition), followed by 0.50% lysine (1.94 ng/g, 84% inhibition), while leucine (3.95 ng/g, 64% inhibition) and proline (4.71 ng/g, 56% inhibition) were less effective at 0.50%. In addition, applying amino acids to meat surface significantly influenced (P < 0.05) pH and surface color change of beef crusts; particularly, lysine at 0.20% and 0.50% increased pH and a^* (redness) but reduced b^* (yellowness), while tryptophan and leucine at 0.50% increased L^* (whiteness). No significant effect was observed on cooking loss. Adding amino acids at 0.50% affected (P < 0.05) formation of aldehydes and pyrazines (as the key flavor compounds of fried beef). Overall, the results of this study suggested that adding amino acids to ground beef patties could effectively mitigate mutagenic HCA formation during cooking.     

Water characteristics in cooked beef as influenced by ageing and high-pressure treatment-an NMR micro imaging study

The water characteristics in cooked pressure-heat treated (45?°C for 45 min prior to pressurisation at 150 MPa for 30 min) and non-pressurised, cooked (control) samples of beef Longissimus aged for 1, 3, 8 or 16 days were studied by nuclear magnetic resonance microscopy. A multi-echo sequence was used to obtain T2 images, and independent of ageing period, the T2 values were found to be lower in pressure-heat treated meat revealing alterations in water characteristics of pressure-treated, cooked meat compared with cooked meat. With increasing ageing duration, the T2 values in both pressure-treated, cooked and cooked meat decreased indicating that the water became more tightly trapped in the protein network. In addition, independent of length of ageing period the relationship between cooking loss in the cooked meat and transverse relaxation differed between non-pressurised and pressure-treated meat, which reveals that the mechanisms changing the water properties in beef during ageing are different from those occuring during pressure-heat treatment of meat.     

原料肉部位对牛干巴肉质特性的影响

选取（30±2） 月龄云岭去势公牛6头,屠宰后经7d低温（0～5 ℃）排酸,精细分割后各取500 g西冷和针扒2 个部位原料肉进行肉质分析。采用腌制、烤干工艺将原料肉加工成牛干巴,测定原料肉和牛干巴水分、粗蛋白、粗脂肪、灰分含量、失水率、蒸煮损失率、pH值、总挥发性盐基氮（total volatile basic nitrogen,TVB-N）含量、亚硝酸盐含量、剪切力、肉色和氨基酸含量。结果表明：西冷和针扒2 个部位原料肉的粗蛋白含量、粗脂肪含量、灰分含量、剪切力和黄度值（b*）差异显著（P＜0.05）,水分含量、失水率、蒸煮损失率和亮度值（L*）、红度值（a*）差异不显著;加工成牛干巴后,2 个部位水分含量、粗脂肪含量、粗蛋白含量、剪切力和L*存在显著差异（P＜0.05）,灰分含量、b*和a*差异不显著,pH值、TVB-N含量、亚硝酸盐含量均在合理范围内;牛干巴氨基酸含量高于原料肉,原料肉总氨基酸（total amino acid,TAA）、必需氨基酸（essential amino acid,EAA）、非必需氨基酸（non-essential amino acid,NEAA）含量差异均不显著,牛干巴TAA、EAA、NEAA含量均差异显著（P＜0.05）;原料肉西冷的剪切力、肌间脂肪指标均优于针扒,经相同工艺制成牛干巴后,嫩度、脂肪含量受原料肉品质影响较大。     

Quality and proteome changes of beef M.longissimus dorsi cooked using a water bath and ohmic heating process

This study investigated the effects of different cooking methods, namely water bath cooking (WB), short time ohmic cooking (STOH) and long time ohmic cooking (LTOH) on color, cooking loss, shear force value and proteome changes in beef M.longissimus dorsi at the same endpoint temperature of 72 °C. The cooking loss and shear force value of the ohmically cooked meat were significantly lower (P < 0.05) and redness a* value was significantly higher than that of the WB cooked samples. Proteomics analysis showed that ohmically cooked meat had less protein damage than those of WB cooked ones. Seventeen protein spots of differential abundance in two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) image between STOH and WB cooked samples were successfully identified, and thirteen protein spots between LTOH and WB cooked samples were identified. Most of them belong to myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins and may be related to changes of meat quality parameters.Industrial relevanceDuring thermal processing, proteins, the primary constituents of meat, undergo structural modifications such as oxidation, degradation, denaturation and aggregation. These changes of proteins have important effects on the quality of the final meat products, such as color, tenderness and flavor, and ultimately affect meat palatability and acceptability. Nowadays, innovation is necessary in developing new cooking methods to meet the industrial demand for more efficient production and consumer's demand for higher quality and safer meat products. Ohmic cooking, also known as electric resistance cooking, relies on the heat that is generated when electrical current passes directly through conductive foodstuff to cook the food. Compared to conventional cooking, ohmic cooking has the advantages of much shorter cooking time, higher yield and more uniform heating distribution, and ohmically cooked meat has superior color, higher tenderness, etc. Therefore, as a potential food processing technology, ohmic heating not only increases energy efficiency, but also improves meat quality. In this study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry were used to investigate the quality and proteome changes of beef M.longissimus dorsi following ohmic cooking and water bath cooking, and the results indicated that protein damages in ohmically cooked meat were much less than that of water bath cooked ones, and this might contribute to the lower cooking loss, higher tenderness and better color in ohmically cooked meat. The results of the study suggested that ohmic cooking has a great potential in industrial production of meat products.     

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.