Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima) Seaweed Added to a Growing-Finishing Lamb Diet Has a Positive Effect on Quality Traits and on Mineral Content of Meat.

Supplementing ruminants' diet with seaweed has shown positive effect on meat quality and micronutrients important for human health. The objective of the present study was to investigate the use of Saccharina latissima in a lamb diet to improve the eating quality and nutritional value of meat. Six-month-old female Norwegian White lambs (n = 24) were fed, 35 days pre-slaughter, three different diets: a control (CON) and two seaweed diets (SW); supplemented with either 2.5% (SW1) or 5% (SW2). The quality properties of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and semimembranosus with adductor (SM+ADD) muscles were examined. The dietary inclusion of seaweed reduced cooking loss and shear force of lamb meat, although the effect was not significant at both supplementation levels. SW1 fed lambs showed a significantly (p < 0.05) improved meat color stability and antioxidant potential. Seaweed also reduced lipid oxidation (TBARS) and the warm-over flavor in SM+ADD compared to the CON lamb. Seaweed fed lambs showed an increased content of selenium and iodine in LTL, thereby fulfilling the requirements for the label "source of nutrient" and "significant source of nutrient", respectively. An increased arsenic content in LTL was, however, also observed with seaweed inclusion (to 1.54 and 3.09 µg/100 g in SW1 and SW2 group, respectively). While relevant positive effects were found in meat using seaweed in lamb feed, some optimization of this feed approach will be desirable.

Effects of storage atmosphere and heme state on the color and visible reflectance spectra of salmon ( Salmo salar ) fillets.

It has previously been observed that the color of mackerel muscle is dependent on the status of heme as myoglobin and hemoglobin and hence the storage atmosphere. This study gives strong indications of this being the case also in salmon. Three different storage conditions were used to promote the oxidized, reduced, and carbon monoxide (CO) bound forms of heme in salmon and mackerel fillets. Color determination (instrumental color analysis, imaging, and sensory evaluation) and spectroscopic measurements were performed to study how spectral changes corresponded to color variations. Storage in CO significantly increased the redness in mackerel. This was also seen in salmon to such a degree that it was visible over normal levels of salmon carotenoids. Air storage increased the yellowness and reduced the redness in mackerel, but this effect was partly concealed in salmon by the astaxanthin absorption. The spectral differences due to storage condition could be ascribed to the spectral features characterizing heme of different oxidation states and bound to different ligands. The status of heme should therefore always be considered when experiments related to salmon color are performed. The findings could help in the understanding, control, and prediction of color loss in salmon during processing, storage, and transport.

Effect of freezing temperature on the color of frozen salmon.

UNLABELLED: New freezing methods developed with the purpose of improved product quality after thawing can sometimes be difficult to get accepted in the market. The reason for this is the formation of ice crystals that can give the product a temporary color loss and make it less appealing. We have here used microscopy to study ice crystal size as a function of freezing temperature by investigating the voids in the cell tissue left by the ice crystals. We have also investigated how freezing temperature affects the color and the visible absorption spectra of frozen salmon. Freezing temperatures previously determined to be the best for quality after thawing (-40 to -60 °C) were found to cause a substantial loss in perceived color intensity during frozen state. This illustrated the conflict between optimal freezing temperatures with respect to quality after thawing against visual appearance during frozen state. Low freezing temperatures gave many small ice crystals, increased light scattering and an increased absorption level for all wavelengths in the visible region. Increased astaxanthin concentration on the other hand would give higher absorption at 490 nm. The results showed a clear potential of using visible interactance spectroscopy to differentiate between poor product coloration due to lack of pigmentation and temporary color loss due to light scattering by ice crystal. This type of measurements could be a useful tool in the development of new freezing methods and to monitor ice crystal growth during frozen storage. It could also potentially be used by the industry to prove good product quality. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: In this article we have shown that freezing food products at intermediate to low temperatures (-40 to -80 °C) can result in paler color during frozen state, which could affect consumer acceptance. We have also presented a spectroscopic method that can separate between poor product color and temporary color loss due to freezing.

Scattering correction by use of a priori information.

In this paper we demonstrate how a limited amount of a priori knowledge about spectral variability can be used in extended multiplicative scattering correction (EMSC) to remove disturbing effects such as light scattering variation in visible and near-infrared spectra prior to data modeling. Two different datasets were studied. In the first dataset, pigment concentrations (astaxanthin) were estimated in a model system with different concentrations of the scattering agent intralipid. Different cases were created by including varying levels of intralipid in the calibration set and then applying the models on sample sets with scattering properties both within and outside the calibration range. Including the most accurate estimate of light scattering in the EMSC model gave root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) that were similar to a cross-validated global model including all samples, even for extreme extrapolation with regard to scattering properties. Less accurate estimates gave on average RMSEPs half of what could be achieved using EMSC without any a priori knowledge, suggesting that the method also has potential in cases where the accurate light scattering spectrum is difficult to obtain. In the second dataset carbohydrate concentrations (sucrose, fructose, and glucose) were estimated in orange-juice mixtures where unwanted spectral variation was caused by a change in distance between transmittance fiber-optic probes. This caused two different interfering phenomena due to path length variation and saturation in the detection system. The prediction results for a model based on spectra collected at one specific probe distance treated with EMSC with a correction spectrum were comparable to what could be achieved by a global model including spectra collected at three different distances. The corresponding RMSEPs for models using EMSC with no correction term were in the worst cases 4, 22, and 36 times higher for sucrose, fructose, and glucose, respectively.