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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #304247
Title: Relationship between meat juiciness intensity scores during chewing

Author
item Zhuang, Hong
item SAVAGE, ELIZABETH - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: International Congress of Meat Science and Technology Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/17/2014
Publication Date: 8/17/2014
Citation: Zhuang, H., Savage, E.M. 2014. Relationship between meat juiciness intensity scores during chewing. International Congress of Meat Science and Technology Proceedings. Short Paper ID-166.

Interpretive Summary: Juiciness is one of the most important eating quality attributes for consumers. Meat juiciness is exclusively measured by sensory analysis. It can be measured as the overall impression of juice perceived in the mouth during chewing, or the amount of moisture released from the meat after the initial a few chews. The relationship between these two-evaluation results and between the moisture releases after the initial bites is not well established in meat. The objective of the present study was to establish the relationship between these measurements using chicken breast meat and sensory technique called a time-intensity method. Our results show that there were significant differences in intensity scores of juiciness during chewing. Intensity scores in the first 15 bites of juiciness evaluation were highly correlated and they were also strongly correlated with overall juiciness scores. However, for the intensity scores collected between 20 and 40 bites of chewing, correlations were neither significant nor as strong as those collected in the first 15 bites. These results provide the evidence that for cooked chicken breast meat, both definitions produce the same results and any measurement of the initial moisture releases (<15 bites of chewing) is a good indicator for meat juiciness.

Technical Abstract: The objectives were to establish relationships between sensory juiciness intensity scores during chewing. Chicken breast meat was ground, made into 90g patties, and cooked to 78C. Sensory assessment for juiciness was made by a 7-member, trained descriptive panel using a time-intensity method followed by an overall juiciness evaluation. There were significant differences in intensity scores of juiciness during chewing. Significant linear correlations were consistently found between juiciness scores at evaluating times (seconds) that were close to each other during chewing. Juiciness intensity scores in the first 15 bites of evaluation were highly correlated (P<0.01 and r=0.79). However, for the intensity scores collected between 20 and 40 bites of chewing, correlation is neither significant (P>0.01) nor as strong as those scored in the first 15 bites. Overall juiciness scores were better correlated (P>0.70) with the scores collected in the first 20 bites of chewing. These results indicate that for cooked chicken breast meat, any measurement of the moisture released in the first 15 bites or during the first 15 seconds of chewing provide the results similar to each other and is a good indicator for overall meat juiciness.