Author
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Berry, Bradford |
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George, Marnie |
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Submitted to: Food Research International
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/26/1996 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has mandated that foods purchased by USDA for programs such as the National School Lunch Program must undergo fat reduction. Our earlier work showed that younger-age school children found low-fat nuggets manufactured from ground pork with gums and food starches to be acceptable. Older-age individuals, however, did not like the crumbly texture. A decade ago, with high-fat products, researchers found thin-flaking of frozen meat prior to manufacturing restructured products provided unique ways to control meat texture. In the case of pork, added ingredients such as salt were not necessary. This present study investigated the combined effects of using salt and gels and gums for low-fat pork nuggets made from flaked muscle. Use of salt improved cooking yields and provided a more "chewy" texture. Gels and gums did not provide the improvements in eating quality and cooking yields observed in our earlier work using ground pork. It is possible that the flaking and forming process does not permit the full benefits from using these fat replacers. Processors may need to use very rigid control on meat particle reduction systems, fat content and amount and type of fat replacers to achieve the desired eating quality in low-fat "finger-food" meat products. Technical Abstract: Low-fat (7-8 percent) nonbreaded, pork nuggets were processed using different levels of salt, iota carrageenan, konjac flour and flaked pork muscle. Use of 1.5 percent salt with iota carrageenan improved precooking yields, juiciness and tenderness scores compared to an all-pork nugget product. However, shear force values were increased as a result of including salt in formulations. Use of iota carrageenan singularly or in combination with konjac flour as a gel did not improve cooking and sensory properties compared to the all-pork product. The highest tenderness ratings were obtained from commercially processed, high-fat breaded nuggets made from ground beef and chicken. In order to achieve the palatability of breaded, high-fat nuggets, further modifications will be necessary in the use of gels and gums with restructured, low-fat pork muscle. |
