Electrophoresis as a Useful Tool in Studying the Quality of Meat Products

Abstract

The study of meat quality usually involves a great number of methodologies at the laboratory. Thus, new technology and automatic equipments are used in combination to well-known methodologies in order to improve the study of the constituents of a given sample. Several methodologies are usually carried out in combination, especially when composition and functionality of food compounds are studied. Meat and meat products are mainly composed of water, proteins, lipids, minerals and carbohydrates (Bender, 1992). Most sensory and functional properties depend on the quantity and quality of these compounds. In the last years, several studies aimed its efforts on the improvement of sensory quality of meat products by means of the incorporation of additives (Szerman et al., 2012). At present, ready-to-cook and pre-cooked foods are installed in life. Regarding meat market, sous vide processing appears to be an interesting option for offering different kinds of beef products for consumption. It consists of the cooking/pasteurization process to a raw material packaged in a heat-stable vacuum container. The products are stored at 0-3 C and are able to be re-heated and consumed even after 5 weeks (Vaudagna et al., 2002). Besides the enhancement of shelf life, several other advantages have been associated to sous vide processing, such as increased flavour profile, increased tenderness and nutritional loss reduction (Church & Parsons, 2000; Vaudagna et al., 2002).

Resumen: En la actualidad, los alimentos listos para cocinar y precocinados están instalados en la vida. En cuanto al mercado de la carne, el procesamiento sous vide parece ser una opción interesante para ofrecer diferentes tipos de productos de carne para el consumo. Consiste en el proceso de cocción/pasteurización a una materia prima envasada en un recipiente termoestable al vacío. Los productos se almacenan a 0-3 C y pueden recalentarse y consumirse incluso después de 5 semanas (Vaudagna et al., 2002). Además de la mejora de la vida útil, se han asociado varias otras ventajas al procesamiento sous vide, como un mayor perfil de sabor, mayor terneza y reducción de la pérdida nutricional (Church & Parsons, 2000; Vaudagna et al., 2002).