Protein meat technology

The increasing interest in nutritional and functional properties of soybean protein has promoted their use in the manufacturing of foods for human consumption. Soybean products (particularly infant formulas and soybean dairy-like) may also represent an interesting substitute for infants and people allergic to milk proteins. On the other hand, due to their technological properties and low cost, soybean proteins are increasingly employed as ingredients in milk, bakery, and meat products, in which their addition is forbidden or allowed up to a certain limit. 

Thermoplastic extrusion technology has been used to texturize many defatted vegetable protein ingredients, and produce many fibrous structures and meat-like textures. Such processes have been used extensively to prepare meat analogs (1, which have found their widest application in formulation of foods for institutional markets (3). A primary disclosure of extrusion texturization of vegetable proteins was made by Atkinson ( ). General descriptions of various extrusion processes have also been reported (1, 5-14). ... 

Proteins are important from the nutritional and technological points of view. Proteins affect every property that characterizes a living organism, and they play different roles in the human body. Proteins are also very important in food technology and are responsible for many food properties. The physical properties of proteins and their interactions with other components contribute significantly to the functional behavior and quality of several food products, such as cheese, bread, and meat products (9). An overview of the functional roles of proteins in different food systems is presented in Table 2. Food preferences by human beings are based not on nutritional quality but on sensory attributes to the food, such as appearance, color, flavor, texture, and... 

Distell Industries (1993) has developed hand-held instruments for the measurement of fat content in fish and meat. The technology evolved from the knowledge that the dielectric loss factor of fish has a reasonably linear dependence on water content (Ohlsson et al. 1974). In fish, fat accumulates at the expense of water and protein, making estimation of fat content based on water content practical (Kent 1990). In meat products, fat accumulation is independent of water and protein, i.e., it is additive, and thus makes the calculation of fat based on water amount more difficult. A hand-held meat instrument has been developed, but requires calibration depending on the type of meat measured. 

Because modem technology has made possible the laboratory synthesis of proteins, some protein hormones are being synthetically produced for use as medicines. Insulin, thyroid hormones, and growth hormones are some examples. Both natural and synthetic proteins are used in a variety of products— from meat tenderizer to cleaning solutions to health and beauty aids. 

Manufactured chunks are commonly used for CIG/J, except for some premium-grade products, which would include diced natural chunks. The technologies used to produce chunks are heat setting for meat proteins and gel setting. Chunk strength is an important property and is directly related to the acceptability of CIG/J. Heat set chunks occur by creation of strong matrix of soluble meat proteins when heated above 80°C with addition of some additives such as blood plasma and wheat flour (Edley et al., 2003). 

Brines consisting of water, salt, polyphosphates, and SPIs or functional SPCs are prepared and pumped into muscle cuts using stitch pumps. Various domestic federal regulations apply for example, hams and corned beef can be pumped to achieve cooked yields of 130%, provided a minimum protein content of 17% is maintained. Reviews on meat pumping technology were prepared by Bonkowski (1989) and Rakes (1993). 

Rakes, G.A, Meat applications of soy protein concentrate. Proceedings of the World Conference on Oilseed Technology and Utilization T.H. Applewhite, Ed. American Oil Chemists Society Champaign, IL, 1993 pp. 311-319. 

J.J. Shieh et al., Radiation chemistry of meat proteins myoglobin irradiated in frozen aqueous solutions, in C.C. Tsen and C. Li (eds ). Proceedings of International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food and Technology, Hua Shiang Hwan, Taipei, 1981, p. 277. 

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