Progress 12/01/15 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Over the course of the project, the primary target audience for science-based knowledge transfer has been members of the seafood processing industry, particularly lobster and scallop processors in the New England region. Information on the sous vide processing and high pressure processing research was shared with attendees at the Atlantic and Gulf Seafood Technology Conference in Boston in March, 2019. Attendees included members of the seafood processing industry, Cooperative Extension, NOAA, and national and regional SeaGrant offices. Presentations on the scallop and lobster processing research were given at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meetings in 2018 and 2019, to an audience representing government, academia, and industry. Members of the Orono, Maine community who participated in consumer sensory testing research had the opportunity to learn about sous vide and high pressure processing technologies, and students in FSN 440 (Utilization of Aquatic Food Products) learned about application of these technologies to seafood products. The project also provided experiential learning opportunities for 5 undergraduate and 2 graduate students majoring in Food Science. Changes/Problems:Although there were no modifications to the objectives or experimental design of this research project, one of the proposed research sites was changed. The initial plan was to use a 1L HPP unit at the U.S Army research facility (NSRDEC) at Natick, Massachusetts, but we switched to using a larger (55L) HPP unit at Cornell (Geneva, NY), due to equipment problems. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided numerous training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate food science students in the Seafood Laboratory at the University of Maine. Two PhD students and five undergraduate students worked/trained on this research project over the life of the study. Students were trained in multiple knowledge/skills areas, including 1) high pressure processing on two different state-of-the-art processing units, 2) seafood processing methods in a food pilot plant, including blanching, vacuum packaging, sous-vide processing, shucking, sorting & weighing of lobster and scallops, 3) laboratory analytical methods, including instrumental color and texture (shear and TPA) analyses, salt soluble protein, water holding capacity, total volatile base nitrogen analyses, and HPLC analyses of biogenic amines, 4) sensory analyses, including consumer acceptability testing using the 9-pt hedonic scale 5-pt just about right scales, as well as using a trained panel to evaluate shelf-life stability of raw lobsters, and 5) research methods, including experimental design, statistical evaluation, oral and poster presentation, and preparing peer reviewed papers and technical bulletins. Emphasis was given to honing writing skills, and graduate students have prepared six abstracts based on this research for presentation at the 2018 & 2019 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meetings as well as the 2019 Atlantic and Gulf Seafood Technology conference. Graduate student Dhriti Nayyar wrote a piece titled "Exploring the effects of high pressure processing and sous-vide on sea scallops" which explained the science of these processing technologies to a non-technical audience. That essay was awarded first place in IFT's 2017 Graduate Student Technical Writing Competition. Both graduate students also won awards in IFT's Graduate Research Paper competition for poster presentations of this work; one in the Aquatic Food Product Division and the other in the Non-thermal Division. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared with members of the food industry and academia who attended the Institute of Food Technologists annual conferences in 2018 and 2019, specifically those involved with the non-thermal division and the aquatic food products division. Results were also communicated with members of the seafood industry, government, and seafood researchers who attended the 2019 Atlantic and Gulf Seafood Technology conference. Results have also been communicated informally to representatives of companies that manufacture HPP equipment, and to seafood processing companies in New England that have expressed an interest in pursuing these technologies. We prepared a technical bulletin in collaboration with University of Maine Cooperative Extension which summarizes the key results of our studies in non-technical language. The bulletin is currently in production and will be made widely available in print and online through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Publications Catalog (https://extensionpubs.umext.maine.edu/). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The purpose of this research was to help develop more nutritious, high quality, and minimally processed foods for consumers. Our project focused on using low-temperature, long-time cooking of vacuum packaged food in a hot water bath (sous vide, SV), which protects the texture and flavor of foods, together with high pressure processing (HPP) to produce convenient-to-use foods for the food service industry. Although SV cooking has been reported to produce high quality foods, these foods are not commercially very available in the U.S. due in part to their short shelf life. Investigating the use of HPP for the development of these foods offers the potential to increase the refrigerated shelf-life and safety of SV products. Although these technologies may be applied to numerous types of food products, our emphasis was on high-value seafood products, specifically lobster tails and sea scallops. We first focused on learning more about SV processing, to determine how different time/temperature cooking combinations would impact how much consumers liked the quality of the lobsters and scallops. Consumers enjoyed products from all three SV processing conditions (55°C/208 minutes, 60°C/45 minutes, 65°C /10 minutes) equally, which led us to use the quickest method (65C/10) for subsequent studies. These results also have important implications for the food service industry, since they show that restaurants can use whichever of these processing conditions is most convenient to produce equally desirable seafood products for their customers. Next, we evaluated the effects of various moderate HPP conditions on the quality of raw and of subsequently SV cooked scallops and lobster tails. Seafood products were significantly impacted by the magnitude (150 vs 350 MPa) and duration (5 vs 10 minutes) of HPP. However, HPP did not affect moisture content or weight loss of the raw or cooked lobsters, which has significant economic implications, since these products are sold by weight. HPP has the potential to be used to increase shelf life of SV ready products, however, processors need to be aware of the effects of HPP conditions on the physical and chemical qualities of their specific products. In the final two phases of the project, we determined the effects of HPP on the shelf life and consumer acceptability of the scallops and lobster tails. Raw scallops and lobsters processed at 350 MPa for 10 minutes had a much longer refrigerated shelf-life (~28 days) compared to the control samples (~7 days), with only minimal negative effects of HPP on their physical qualities (texture, color). Finally, consumer testing showed that despite the significant effects of HPP on texture and color, HPP can be applied at 350/10 to extend refrigerated shelf-life without affecting the consumer acceptability of SV cooked scallops and lobster tails. This indicates that food service facilities could receive packaged, value-added, ready to SV products and store them under refrigeration until ready for convenient SV cooking. Avoiding the need for frozen storage or preservatives, and using low temperature SV methods can help insure the delivery of minimally processed, high quality foods for food service and potentially retail markets. Objective 1) Establish SV processing parameters for subsequent testing of high-value seafood products. We conducted two consumer sensory tests on SV processed products to determine the acceptability of samples processed under different time and temperature combinations. These processes were previously validated to ensure a 6-log reduction of Listeria monocytogenes. Products were vacuum packaged and processed in a SV water bath under three temperature/time conditions: 55C/208min, 60C/45 min, and 65C/10min. Samples were subjected to consumer acceptability testing by ~100 consumers for each panel who evaluated the texture, color, taste, aroma, and overall acceptability of the products using a 9-point hedonic scale. Differences among scallop and among lobster treatments were not statistically significant. Based on these results, the most convenient SV cooking method (65C/10) was selected for subsequent HPP studies. Objective 2) Evaluate the effects of HPP variables on quality attributes of SV ready and of subsequently SV cooked products. We assessed the effects of moderate pressures (150/350 MPa) and processing times (5/10 minutes) on physicochemical qualities of HPP processed raw and subsequently SV cooked products. Treatments were processed in triplicate and then analyzed for color, texture, moisture content, water loss, water holding capacity and soluble protein. Seafood products were significantly impacted by pressure and duration, although scallop and lobster samples exhibited different responses to the HPP treatment. For scallops, processing time impacted the texture of the cooked scallops; the 10 minute treatment resulted in significantly firmer and harder scallops compared to the 5 minute pressurization. Processing pressure had little effect on scallop qualities, although higher processing pressure (350 MPa) resulted in whitening of the HPP-processed raw samples.For lobsters, processing pressure had more significant effects on product quality. The 150/10 raw lobsters were less firm and chewy compared to the controls. HPP affected the color of raw meats, and in contrast to the scallop samples, the color differences were still apparent after SV cooking. These results provide important information about the effects of HPP on the physicochemical qualities of raw and of SV processed lobsters and scallops which can help inform the development of high quality, novel, and convenient products. Objective 3) Determine whether consumers can differentiate between control and HPP processed, SV cooked products. We then assessed the consumer acceptability of HPP, SV cooked samples. Scallops were processed at 350 MPa for 5/10min, while lobster tails were processed at 150/350 MPa for 10 minutes. Samples were then SV cooked. Participants were served the two HPP processed samples and a non-HPP control, and were asked to evaluate the acceptability of the 3 samples using a 9-point hedonic scale and just-about-right scales focused on texture. HPP prior to SV cooking did not adversely affect the sensory acceptability of the seafood products, indicating that changes in color and texture induced by 350/10 did not affect consumer acceptance. Objective 4) Determine the effects of HPP on the shelf-life of sous vide ready and of SV cooked products. We tested the effects of HPP on the refrigerated shelf life of vacuum packaged raw and of subsequently SV cooked scallops and lobsters in comparison to controls. Scallops were processed at 350 MPa for 5 or 10 minutes, while lobster tails were processed at 150 or 350 MPa for 10 minutes. Half the samples were subsequently SV cooked and all samples were stored under refrigeration (2C) for up to 35 days. Samples were subjected to color, microbial load (aerobic plate counts and lactic acid bacteria), pH, soluble protein, total volatile base nitrogen, weight loss, biogenic amines, and for lobster tails, aroma evaluation by a trained panel. Color, microbial load, and texture of raw scallops were significantly affected by HPP, although many differences were masked by subsequent SV processing. 350MPa for 5 or 10 minutes increased the hardness values of raw scallops, compared to the controls. Texture did not change significantly during refrigerated storage. Microbial load in raw samples was affected by HPP treatment, with 10-min samples HPP exhibiting significantly lower LAB counts after 4 weeks of storage compared to the control and the 5-min samples. The 10-min processed scallops retained acceptable microbal quality for > 28 days of refrigerated storage. For lobster tails, the microbial, physical, and sensory results indicated that 350/10 or SV cooking effectively extended refrigerated shelf life of samples compared to the controls.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Humaid S, Bolton J,Nayyar D,Skonberg DI. Physicochemical properties and consumer acceptance of high-pressure processed, sous vide-cooked lobster tails. Journal of Food Science.doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.14954
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Nayyar D, Humaid S, Bolton J, Skonberg DI. Consumer liking of high pressure processed, sous-vide cooked sea scallops and lobster tails. Atlantic and Gulf Coast Seafood Technology Conference, Boston, MA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Humaid S, Nayyar D, Bolton J, Nayak B, Skonberg DI. Shelf-life evaluation of raw high pressure processed lobster tails. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Nayyar D, Humaid S, Bolton J, Nayak B, Skonberg DI. High pressure processing: A tool to extend shelf-life of sea scallops. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Humaid S, Nayyar D, Bolton J, Skonberg DI. High pressure processing of vacuum-packaged scallops and lobster tails for sous-vide cooking. University of Maine Cooperative Extension Bulletin #4297.
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Progress 12/01/17 to 11/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:During the project period the target audience was primarily graduate and undergraduate food science students at the University of Maine, and partners/stakeholders in the regional seafood industry, including lobster and scallops processors. Members of the UMaine community and visitors who participated in consumer testing also had the opportunity to learn about sous vide and high pressure processing technologies. Changes/Problems:Due to some labor and lobster harvesting issues in the region, our supply of lobster tails was cut off and caused a delay in some of the lobster processing portions of the research project. However, now that these industry issues have been resolved, we will be able to source the appropriate lobster tails to finish up the remaining portions of Objectives 3 and 4 in the next reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this project period numerous undergraduate and graduate food science students continued hands on training in multiple aspects of this research project. Students were trained in high pressure processing, consumer testing (sensory evaluation), primary seafood processing (blanching, shucking, washing, sorting/weighing, sanitizing, packaging, etc.) in our pilot plant, sous vide processing, statistical evaluation of data, and presentations at scientific meetings. The two graduate students primarily responsible for carrying out this research were both finalists in the graduate student research competition at the 2018 Institute of Food Technologists annual conference, and Dhriti Nayyar took second place in the Nonthermal Division competition (Effects of high pressure processing on physicochemical qualities of raw and sous vide cooked sea scallops). Both students are currently in the process of preparing manuscripts based on work from Objective 2 of this research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared with members of the food industry and academia who attended the Institute of Food Technologists annual conference, specifically those involved with the non-thermal division and the aquatic food products division. Results have also been shared with representatives of companies that manufacture HPP equipment, and seafood processing companies in Maine that have expressed an interest in pursuing this technology. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we will finish up Objectives 3 and 4. As described above, we have already completed those objectives for sea scallops, and will carry out similar studies with lobster tails. The primary difference will be in the HPP parameters employed. Instead of applying 350 MPa for 5 or 10 minutes, lobsters will be processed at 150 MPa and 350 MPa for 10 minutes. These parameters were chosen based on the physicochemical results obtained while carrying out Objective 2. In addition, several manuscripts will be prepared for peer-reviewed journals, and a fact sheet on best practices for sous vide processing of sea scallops and lobster tails will be published in collaboration with University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overall purpose of this research is to help develop more nutritious, high quality, and minimally processed foods for American consumers. Our project focuses on using low-temperature, long-time cooking under vacuum (sous-vide), which protects the texture and flavor of foods, together with high pressure processing (HPP) to produce convenient-to-use and safe foods for the food service industry (restaurants, hotels, catering, etc). Although sous-vide cooking has been reported to produce high quality foods, these foods are not commercially very available in the U.S. due in part to their short shelf life. During this project period we tested the effects of HPP at 350 MPa for 5 or 10 minutes on the refrigerated shelf life of vacuum packaged raw sea scallop and of subsequently sous vide cooked scallops in comparison to non-HPP controls. Samples were processed in triplicate and subjected to periodic analyses of color, microbial load, pH, soluble protein, total volatile base nitrogen, weight loss, and biogenic amines. Select results indicated that color, microbial load, and texture of raw scallops were significantly affected by high pressure processing (at 350MPa), although many differences were masked by subsequent sous vide processing. HPP at 350MPa for 5 and 10 mins significantly increased the hardness values (texture measurement) of raw scallops, compared to the control scallops. Interestingly, the texture did not change significantly during refrigerated storage. Microbial load in raw samples during refrigerated storage was affected by treatment, with samples HPP processed for 10 minutes exhibiting significantly lower lactic acid bacteria counts after 4 weeks of refrigerated storage compared to the control and the 5 minute processed samples. The 10 min processed scallops remained below the upper microbial limit for acceptable quality for more than 28 days of refrigerated storage. We also assessed the consumer acceptability of HPP processed, sous vide cooked sea scallops. Scallops were HPP processed at 350 MPa for 5 or 10 minutes. As in previous objectives, the scallops were subsequently sous vide cooked at 65C for 10 minutes following protocols established for safety. Consumer testing took place at the Sensory Evaluation Center with 99 participants who indicated an interest in consuming scallops. Participants were served the two HPP processed samples and a non-HPP control. Samples were served slightly warm with a side of melted butter and panelists were asked to evaluate the acceptability of the three samples using a 9-point hedonic scale as well as several just-about-right scales specifically focused on product texture. Although the statistical evaluation of the consumer acceptability tests is still in process, preliminary analyses indicate that high pressure processing prior to sous vide cooking did not adversely affect the sensory acceptability of the scallops. The global acceptability scores for all sous-vide cooked scallops ranged from 6.69 to 6.88 (just under "like moderately), with no significant differences observed among the control and HPP treatments. With regard to hedonic scores for scallop flavor, the samples HPP processed for 10 minutes received the highest score (7.04), followed by the control (6.96), and the 5 min processed (6.8), although the differences were not significant based on ANOVA. Panelists rated the HPP samples as being somewhat more firm than the control samples (based on the just-about-right scales), however differences among treatments were not significant.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Humaid S, Bolton J, Nayyar D, Richardson M, Nayak B, Skonberg D. (2018) Physicochemical properties of high pressure processed, sous vide cooked lobster tails. IFT Annual Meeting, July 2018, Chicago ILL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Nayyar D, Bolton J, Humaid S, Richardson M, Nayak B, Skonberg D. (2018) Effects of high pressure processing (HPP) on physicochemical qualities of raw and sous-vide cooked sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus. IFT Annual Meeting, July 2018, Chicago ILL.
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Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:This year the project has provided experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in food science and human nutrition. In addition, students in the FSN 440 (Utilization of Aquatic Food Products) lecture had the opportunity to learn about application of these processing technologies to seafood products. Changes/Problems:Although there was no modification of the objectives or experimental design of this research project, one of the proposed research sites was changed. The initial plan was to use a 1L HPP unit at the U.S Army research facility (NSRDEC) at Natick, Massachusetts, but we switched to using a new and much larger (55L) HPP unit at Cornell (Geneva, NY), due to equipment malfunction at NSRDEC. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project continues to provide numerous training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate food science students in the Seafood Laboratory at the University of Maine. Two graduate students and two undergraduate students worked/trained on this research project over the past 12 months. Students have been trained in several knowledge/skills areas, including 1) high pressure processing on a state-of-the-art processing unit, 2) seafood processing in a pilot food plant, including blanching, vacuum packaging, sous-vide processing, shucking, sorting & weighing of lobster and scallop samples, 3) laboratory analytical methods, including instrumental color and texture (shear and TPA) analyses, salt soluble protein, and water holding capacity, and 4) Research methods, including experimental design, statistical evaluation, and reporting. Emphasis has been given to honing writing skills, and graduate students have submitted three abstracts based on this research for presentation at the 2018 Institute of Food Technologists(IFT) Annual Meeting. Graduate student Dhriti Nayyar wrote a piece titled "Exploring the effects of high pressure processing and sous-vide on sea scallops" which explained the science of these processing technologies to a non-technical audience. That essay was awarded first place in IFT's 2017 Graduate Student Technical Writing Competition. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will proceed with Objectives 3 through 4 as described in the proposal. We will carry out Objective 4 for scallops and for lobsters this Spring using the HPP unit at Cornell. For Objective 3 (sensory evaluation), we are pursuing options for working at another HPP facility, since the unit at Cornell can not be used for samples intended for human consumption.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overall purpose of this research is to help develop more nutritious, high quality, and minimally processed foods for American consumers. Our project focuses on using low-temperature, long-time cooking under vacuum (sous-vide), which protects the texture and flavor of foods, together with high pressure processing (HPP) to produce convenient-to-use and safe foods for the food service industry (restaurants, hotels, catering, etc). Although sous-vide cooking has been reported to produce high quality foods, these foods are not commercially very available in the U.S. due in part to their short shelf life. Investigating the use of HPP for the development of these foods offers the potential to increase the refrigerated shelf-life and safety of sous-vide products. Although these technologies may be applied to numerous types of food products, for this research our emphasis is on high-value seafood products, specifically lobster tails and sea scallops. In the first phase of this research, we focused on sous-vide processing. Last year, we established best practices for sous-vide processing of shucked lobster tails and sea scallops, based on consumer testing of products processed using different time/temperature combinations. Based on that work, we selected a 65C water bath for 10 minutes. In the second phase of this research (Objective 2), we evaluated the effects of HPP on the qualities of sous-vide cooked products. Specifically, we assessed the effects of moderate pressures (150 and 350 MPa) and processing times (5 and 10 minutes) on some physical and chemical qualities of HPP processed and then subsequently sous-vide cooked scallops and lobster tails. The HPP processed seafood and the controls were analyzed raw and after sous-vide cooking. All the treatments were processed in triplicate and were analyzed for color, texture, moisture content, water loss, water holding capacity and soluble protein. Data were statistically analyzed to determine differences among treatments. We found that seafood products were significantly impacted by extent of pressure (150 vs 350 MPa) and duration (5 vs 10 minutes), and that sea scallop and lobster samples exhibited different responses to the HPP treatment. For the scallops, HPP processing time strongly impacted the texture of the sous-vide cooked scallops; the 10 minute treatment resulted in significantly firmer and harder scallops compared to the 5 minute pressurization. Processing pressure had little effect on scallop qualities, although higher processing pressure (350 MPa) resulted in significant whitening of the HPP-processed raw samples, indicating that bleaching occurred. However, subsequent sous-vide cooking masked those effects on color. No significant differences were found in moisture content, water holding capacity or water loss among HPP treatments. For lobsters, HPP processing pressure had more significant effects on product quality. We found that the 150 MPa/10minute processed raw lobsters were significantly less firm and chewy compared to the untreated control samples. However, raw and subsequently cooked tails pressurized at 350MPa experienced an increase in firmness and toughness. HPP significantly affected the color of raw meats, and in contrast to the scallop samples, the color differences were still apparent after sous-vide cooking. It's important to note that the HPP treatment did not affect moisture content or weight loss of the raw or cooked lobster meats, which has significant economic implications. HPP has the potential to be used as a hurdle to increase safety and shelf life of sous-vide ready products. However, compromising the physical qualities of these high value seafood products would be detrimental to launching economically sustainable, novel, sous-vide products. These results provide important information about the effects of HPP on the physical and chemical qualities of raw and of sous-vide processed lobsters and sea scallops. However, a follow-up study on consumer acceptability of these products will provide a more complete picture of overall quality of HPP processed, sous-vide cooked lobsters and sea scallops. Subsequent research will also focus on understanding and assessing the effects of HPP on qualities of these products during refrigerated storage.
Publications
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Progress 12/01/15 to 11/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Maine, and partners/stakeholders in the regional seafood industry (lobster processor; scallop processor). Changes/Problems:Although there are no changes in the approach to this research project, the timeline has been pushed back. Instead of a December 1, 2015 start date, the research was initiated in July 2016, after new graduate students had been recruited and had enrolled in University of Maine's Food and Nutrition Sciences graduate program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided numerous training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate food science students in the Seafood Laboratory. One graduate student has been working on the project for the past 5 months, while another graduate student and two undergraduate students have been working/training on this research project for the past three months (since Fall semester started). Students are being trained using a variety of one-on-one and group experiential learning methods, in three knowledge/skill areas: 1) Consumer testing, including Human Subjects Research Training, sample preparation for consumer acceptability testing, the SIMS sensory software system, and recruiting of subjects; 2) Seafood processing in a pilot food plant, including blanching, vacuum packaging, sous vide processing, shucking, sorting & weighing of lobster and scallop samples, and 3) Research Methods, including experimental design and reporting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are currently analyzing the results of our recently completed first two studies (for objective 1) and will share results with our seafood industry stakeholders once analyses have been conducted. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will proceed with Objectives 2 through 4 as described in the proposal. We will initiate the HPP research at the US Army Natick research facility in the spring, starting with evaluating the effects of HPP variables on the quality attributes of lobster, and then subsequently conducting replicate studies on sea scallops.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The purpose of this research is to help develop more nutritious, high quality, and minimally processed foods for American consumers. Our project focuses on using low-temperature, long-time cooking under vacuum (sous vide), which protects the texture and flavor of foods, together with high pressure processing (HPP) to produce convenient-to-use and safe foods for the food service industry (restaurants, hotels, catering, etc). Although sous vide cooking has been reported to produce high quality foods, these foods are not commercially very available in the U.S. due in part to their short shelf life. Investigating the use of HPP for the development of these foods offers the potential to increase the refrigerated shelf-life and safety of sous vide products. Although these technologies may be applied to numerous types of food products, for this research our emphasis is on high-value seafood products, specifically lobster tails and sea scallops. In the first phase of this research, we have focused on sous vide processing (Objective 1). We have established appropriate methods to remove the shell from raw lobster tails, and developed best practices for sous vide cooking of the lobsters. We have conducted two consumer tests on sous vide processed lobsters and sea scallops to determine the acceptability of samples processed under three different processing treatments: 55° C for 208 minutes, 60° C for 45 minutes, and 65° C for 10 minutes. Ninety four seafood consumers rated the appearance, aroma, texture, flavor, and overall acceptability of the scallop samples using a 9-point scale (1 = dislike intensely, 9 = like intensely). For scallops, the 65°C treatment resulted in the highest scores among treatments, although differences were not significant, and overall acceptability scores over 7, which was our target. One hundred consumers were recruited to evaluate acceptability of lobster tails in a similar test. Results from these two consumer tests are being used to establish the appropriate sous vide cooking parameters for use in subsequent studies that combine HPP with sous vide cooking. Results will also be used to develop a Cooperative Extension Factsheet on safe sous vide cooking of these high value seafood products. Subsequent research (Objectives 2 through 4) will focus on understanding and assessing the effects of HPP on the physical, microbial, and sensory qualities of refrigerated and sous vide cooked foods.
Publications
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