ARS | Publication request: Effect of hydrodynamic pressure processing on chevon quality characteristics

Submitted to: American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 10, 2007
Publication Date: July 8, 2007
Citation: Eega, K.R., Lee, J.H., Solomon, M.B., Pringle, T.D., Mcmillin, K.W., Kannan, G. 2007. Effect of hydrodynamic pressure processing on chevon quality characteristics [abstract]. Journal of Animal Science 85(Suppl. 1):504, W129.

Technical Abstract: Hydrodynamic pressure processing (HDP) technology, which involves exposure of packaged meat to a supersonic shock wave under water created by a small amount of explosive, has been shown to improve meat tenderness, but its effect on chevon tenderness has not been studied so far. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of HDP on the quality characteristics of boneless chevon steaks. Eighteen male Spanish goats (8 mo of age) were slaughtered and the carcasses kept at 2ºC for 24 h, fabricated, and the leg primal cuts sliced into 2.5 cm-thick steaks. The bone from each slice was removed and the steaks were vacuum packaged and frozen. The steaks were transported frozen to the Food Technology and Safety Lab at Beltsville, MD, where they were thawed overnight (4ºC), and then repackaged for HDP processing. Steaks from the left leg of each carcass were subjected to HDP treatment and those from the right were kept as untreated controls (n=18/treatment). Cooking loss, Warner-Bratzler shear force value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and color values were determined on the semimembranosus muscles of both treated and control steaks. HDP-processed steaks had lower shear force values compared with control steaks (P<0.05). Cooking loss tended to be higher (P<0.1; SEM=1.11) in treated steaks (31.9 percent) compared with control steaks (29.6 percent). The TBARS values were 1.2 and 1.1 mg melondialdehyde/kg sample, respectively, in treated and control steaks. The CIE L*, a*, b* color values, determined after a 40-min bloom period, were not different between treated and control steaks. The results indicate that HDP processing can improve the tenderness of chevon without significantly affecting other quality characteristics.