Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of burger made from duck surimi-like material.

Burgers were prepared using duck surimi-like material (DSLM) with polydextrose added (SL) and DSLM with sucrose-sorbitol added (SS), and the properties of these burgers were compared with those of burgers made of chicken meat (CB) and duck meat (DB). Quality characteristics such as chemical composition, cooking loss, diameter shrinkage, color, and texture were measured. The DB had a lower moisture content (55.58%) and higher fat content (21.44%) and cooking loss (11.01%) compared with other samples, whereas CB, SS, and SL did not differ significantly in moisture (65.21-66.10%) and fat (10.42-11.16%) content or cooking loss (5.32-6.15%). The SS and SL were positioned below CB and above DB in terms of hardness, chewiness, and springiness. Ten trained panelists assessed the burgers using quantitative descriptive analysis. Among the burgers, CB had the greatest brightness of color, hardness, springiness, and chewiness. The SS had greater sweetness than the other burgers. Both SL and SS had significantly less animalic odor, meaty flavor, oiliness, juiciness, and saltiness compared with DB. The physicochemical and sensory characteristics of burgers prepared from DSLM approached those of burgers made of chicken.

Freeze-thaw stability of duck surimi-like materials with different cryoprotectants added.

In this study, the effect of the addition of different cryoprotectants on the freeze-thaw stability of duck surimi-like material (DSLM) was tested. A 6% (wt/wt) low-sweetness cryoprotectant (i.e., polydextrose, trehalose, lactitol, or palatinit) was added to a 3-kg portion of DSLM, and the mixture was subjected to freeze-thaw cycles during 4 mo of frozen storage. The DSLM with no cryoprotectant added (control) and with a 6% sucrose-sorbitol blend (high-sweetness cryoprotectant) added also were tested. The polydextrose-added sample had the highest water-holding capacity among the sample types tested (P < 0.05), and it retained its higher value during frozen storage. The protein solubility of the cryoprotectant-added samples decreased significantly (P < 0.05) from 58.99 to 59.60% at initial frozen storage (0 mo) to 48.60 to 54.61% at the end of the experiment (4 mo). The gel breaking force of all samples significantly decreased (P < 0.05) at 1 mo; this breaking force then stabilized after further frozen storage for the cryoprotectant-added samples, whereas it continued to decrease in the control samples. Gel deformation fluctuated during frozen storage and was significantly lower (P < 0.05) at the end of experiment than at the beginning. The presence of cryoprotectants reduced the whiteness of DSLM. Samples containing polydextrose, trehalose, lactitol, and palatinit were able to retain the protein solubility, gel breaking force, and deformation of DSLM better than control samples after 4 mo of frozen storage and exposure to freeze-thaw cycles. The effects of these low-sweetness cryoprotectants are comparable to those of sucrose-sorbitol, thus, these sugars could be used as alternatives in protecting surimi-like materials during frozen storage.

Pancreatic injuries in the United Arab Emirates.

PURPOSE: To study the mechanism, management and outcome of patients who had sustained pancreatic trauma. METHODOLOGY: Patients who were treated for pancreatic trauma in Al-Ain Hospital between October 2002 and August 2007 were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: All eleven patients were males having a median age of 30 years (range 24-52 years). Nine had blunt trauma while two had suffered penetrating injury. Three presented with shock. associated injuries were present in nine patients (head, chest, and extremities) while seven had other intra-abdominal injuries. Only one patient had isolated pancreatic injury. Early serum amylase was elevated in six patients. CT abdomen was diagnostic for pancreatic injury in seven patients. Two cases were missed by early CT scan (sensitivity of 78%) while the remaining two patients were taken immediately to the operating theater. All patients underwent laparotomy. Five patients were treated by drainage alone, four had distal pancreatectomy, abdominal packing was performed in one patient and in another gastrocystostomy was carried out. Pancreatic fistula occurred in three patients. Median hospital stay was 25 days (range 12-152 days). Two patients (18%) died. CONCLUSIONS: Blunt trauma is the main cause of pancreatic injury in our country. Early CT scan may miss pancreatic injury in almost a quarter of the patients. Thin sliced CT scan, with special views in a dedicated abdominal pancreatic study, is recommended. A high index of clinical suspicion, depending on the mechanism of injury, is important for diagnosis of pancreatic injury. Mortality is mainly attributable to other associated injuries so simple procedures should initially be adopted for pancreatic injury, especially in haemodynamically unstable patients.