The interaction of chia mucilage-based edible film and transglutaminase enzyme on spent hen meat nuggets.

1. The aim of this study was to utilise low-value spent hen meat and investigate the possibility of using chia (Salvia hispanica L.) as a mucilage-based edible film to prevent loss of quality in meat products. For this purpose, spent hen meat was reconstructed with the addition of transglutaminase (TGase) at different concentrations (0.5, 1 and 1.5%) and used to produce nuggets. These were covered with chia mucilage-based film and kept at 4°C for 7 d.2. The addition of transglutaminase and coating with film decreased meat pH (P < 0.01). Samples containing transglutaminase had higher thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value (P < 0.01), while the DPPH value of the samples was not affected by the transglutaminase and edible film (P > 0.05). Hence, mucilage-based edible film did not prevent or delay the oxidation of nuggets.3. Transglutaminase improved the texture characteristics of the nuggets and the edible film reduced fat retention in the samples. The combined use of transglutaminase and film decreased cooking loss and increased water holding capacity (P < 0.01). In the sensory analysis, nuggets with transglutaminase and film had more overall acceptability scores, although the results were not statistically significant.

Marination with citric acid, lemon, and grapefruit affects the sensory, textural, and microstructure characteristics of poultry meat.

1. This study aimed to determine the effects of marination liquids prepared with citric acid (CA-0.5%), lemon (LJ-100%) and grapefruit (GJ-100%) juices on the pH, colour (L*, a*, b*, Chroma, hue angle, total colour differences), cooking loss (CL), water holding capacity (WHC) and marinade absorption (MA) of chicken breast meat. Textural, microstructure (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)) and sensory properties were investigated.2. As a result of marination, there was a significant (P < 0.01) decrease in the CL and pH values and an increase in WHC and MA values of marinated meat. The L*, b* and chroma values of chicken breast meats marinated with all marinades increased significantly (P < 0.01).3. While CLSM showed that LJ gave rise to a partial deterioration in muscle fibres, SEM indicated that LJ had irregular muscle fibres, some fibres were broken and separated from each other. The lowest hardness value was established in the LJ group from texture analysis. In the sensory analysis, marinated samples generally received higher scores from panellists compared with the control.

Characteristics of meat emulsion systems as influenced by different levels of lemon albedo.

The effect of the addition of lemon albedo on the functional properties of emulsions was studied by using a model system. Oil/water (O/W) model emulsion systems were prepared by the addition of two types of lemon albedo (raw and dehydrated) at five concentrations (0.0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10%) to mechanically deboned chicken meat. The emulsion capacity, stability, viscosity and flow properties of the prepared model emulsions were analyzed. In addition, the colour parameters of cooked emulsion gel were determined. The addition of lemon albedo increased the emulsion capacity (EC) and the highest EC value was reached with 5% of albedo added. However, further increase in the albedo concentration caused an inverse trend in the EC values. A similar trend was observed in the emulsion stability (ES) values. Dehydrated albedo (DA) addition caused higher EC and ES values than did raw albedo (RA). DA increased the L(∗), a(∗) and b(∗) values of the cooked emulsion gels. Emulsion viscosity (EV) values were positively correlated with an increase in albedo concentration and the highest EV value was obtained from the emulsions with 10% albedo. Albedo addition did not change the flow properties of the emulsions and, in addition, increased the pseudoplasticity. As a consequence, the use of lemon albedo might be a potential dietary fiber source to enhance the functional and technological properties for frankfurter-type meat products.