Mechanical Tenderisation of Pork Meat: Protein and Water Release due to Tissue Damage

Pork meat was mechanically tenderised with the use of three different machines: a meat activator, a meat grinder with a two-blade knife and a kidney plate, and a blade tenderiser. The protein availability and expressible fluids was then determined. The results are discussed in relation to tissue damage observed under the electron microscope. The processes studied conclude that the main factor causing the appreciable increase of myofibrillar proteins availability and elevating the brine-holding capacity of pork meat was the mechanical disruption of the contractile structure integrity, especially the transversal fractures of fibres and myofibrils. © 1997 SCI.