Manufacture of spent hen ayami and its utilisation in meatloaf and fresh sausage.

1. Spent hens were slaughtered, hand deboned and then further processed into a surimi-like material, ayami, which was used to manufacture meatloaf and fresh sausage as value-added products. 2. Yields of deboned muscle and of ayami (% of deboned muscle) were 34.4 to 43.7% and 63.6%, respectively. 3. The ayami composition was: moisture 78.3%, ash 0.28%, fat 3.7%, protein 15.3% and carbohydrate 2.4%. Its pH value ranged from 5.65 to 6.10, and the water-holding capacity from 35.6 to 37.8. 4. Three formulations of meatloaf were prepared with 0, 7.5 and 15% chicken fat and with a blend of herbs and spices. The most acceptable of the three was used for the manufacture of meatloaf and fresh sausage. 5. Microbial testing was conducted on freshly prepared formulation of the meatloaf (15% fat) and sausage, and on frozen stored samples (-18 degrees C, 10 d). All had acceptable microbial quality. 6. Sensory analysis showed that the 15% fat formulation of the meatloaf was the most liked and the fresh sausage was consumer acceptable.

Emergence of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 in the Caribbean: case-control study in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.

A prospective case-control study involving 46 case patients and 92 age- and neighborhood-matched control subjects was conducted in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) between March 1998 and May 1999 to determine the etiology, sources, and risk factors for Salmonella enteritidis (SE) infection. SE infection in T&T was found to be associated with the consumption of shell eggs, and in particular raw or undercooked eggs. SE isolates from 30 (88%) of 34 patients and from 9 implicated egg or egg-containing food samples were phage type 4. Homemade eggnog and ice cream, cake batter, and egg-containing beverages were the main raw egg-containing foods, reflecting the cultural practices of the people of T&T. Public health education on the risks of eating raw or undercooked eggs, thorough cooking of all egg dishes, and refrigeration of shell eggs and egg dishes; studies tracing infected eggs to their sources; and testing of flocks of layer chickens for SE are needed to reduce the incidence of this infection.

Inhibition of emptying of skeletal muscle cell segments by adenine nucleotides and polyvalent cations.

A correlation had previously been established between actomyosin content of homogenized skeletal muscle cell segments as determined by extraction in strong salt solution and the ability of those segments to empty when extracted with buffered water. In this study, we examined the ability of certain compounds to inhibit the process of emptying. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP), which dissociate actomyosin, inhibited the process of emptying, while adenosine monophosphate (AMP) which does not dissociate actomyosin, did not. We conclude that the formation of actomyosin is a necessary prerequisite for emptying and not just a secondary effect. Polyvalent cations were also found to inhibit emptying. The inhibition was reversible by washing with a solution of NaCl-histidine or with chelating agents, ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and ethylene-glycol-bis(beta-amino-ethyl ether) tetraacetic acid (EGTA). A factor(s) solubilized from aged muscle functions as an inhibitory agent; the suggestion is made that this factor(s) may be a polyvalent cation.