Recipient Organization
OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
STILLWATER,OK 74078
Performing Department
Animal Science
Non Technical Summary
Consumers today expect food to provide an enjoyable eating experience. One factor that seems to be the predominant reoccurring theme is the overall eating experience of the meat product. Research has shown that good eating experiences of meat can be highly related to how tender the cut is perceived during mastication. The overarching objective of this proposal is to update the Meat Science/Muscle Biology laboratory at Oklahoma State University with the Instron 5943 Dual Column Tabletop Model Testing System such that the tenderness of food products, primarily red meats, can be objectively measured to help predict consumer satisfaction. The purpose of the Instron is to measure force using a Warner-Bratzler or Slice Shear force blade to evaluate tenderness of meat samples, thereby predicting consumer satisfaction. The Meat Science/Muscle Biology lab currently has an Instron tabletop model, however it is outdated and repair parts are no longer available leaving it idle and putting research on delay while searching all possible sources to get the unit running again. The Instron will be used to evaluate pre-harvest production practices and post-harvest processing schemes and their impact on tenderness as well as to conduct survey type research to characterize the tenderness of meat products. It will also be used in a series of classes. The exposure to the equipment and its ability will be approx. 175 undergraduate and 15 graduate students, as well as 100 industry partners, producers and agency partners per year.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overarching objective of this proposal is to update the Meat Science/Muscle Biology laboratory at Oklahoma State University with the Instron 5943 Dual Column Tabletop Model Testing System such that the tenderness of food products, primarily red meats, can be measured to help predict consumer satisfaction.
Project Methods
Akaushi project: Strip loins and ribeyes will be purchased to represent three groups of carcasses from Caviness Packing in Hereford Texas: purebred Akaushi, half blook Akaushi and indigenous. Product will be vacuum packaged, boxed and sent to OSU from Caviness who will identify the product by the group it originated from and will supply OSU with carcass data corresonding with each product piece. Cuts will be aged 21d postmortem at approximately 2oC. After the aging period, the section will be faced and cut into 2.54 cm steaks. The face steak will be assigned to fatty acid profiling. The 2.54 cm steaks cut thereafter will be assigned to (anterior to posterior): sensory analysis, and shear force analysis. Steaks will be vacuum packaged and frozen (-28 oC). Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF). Steaks will be allowed to temper for 24 h at 4oC prior to cooking. Steaks will be broiled in an impingement oven (model 1132-000-A; Lincoln Impinger, Fort Wayne, IN) at 180oC to an internal temperature of 70oC. Internal steak temperatures will be monitored with copper constantan thermocouples (model OM-202; Omega Engineering, Inc., Stamford, CT.). Individual steak weights will be recorded prior to, and following, cooking to determine cook loss percentages. After steaks are allowed to cool for at least two hours to 25oC, cores 1.27-cm diameter will be removed parallel to the muscle fiber orientation from each steak. Each core will be sheared once by a Warner-Bratzler head attached to an Instron Universal Testing Machine (model 4502; Instron Corp., Canton, MA) at a crosshead speed of 200 mm/min. Peak force (kg) of cores will be recorded by an IBM PS2 (Model 55 SX) using software provided by the Instron Corp. (Canton, MA). Slice Shear Force (SSF). Conducted in the same manner as above, however, one slice is removed to represent the steak and that slice is sheared using the WBSF head. More data exist in the literature on WBSF, but more groups are also starting to conduct SSF as a part of studies as well. This does take an additional steak (but we would have enough product to do so with the 6 inch section procured from each carcass). Trained Taste Panel. Twelve to twenty panelists will be trained during a two week period to ascertain difference in the level of tenderness, connective tissue amount, juiciness, and determination of off flavors in samples. From the trained panelists, a trained sensory panel of six to eight panelists will be selected to complete the study. Steaks will be thawed and prepared as discussed above in WBSF. When steaks are removed from the grill, approximately 1.3 cm x 1.3 cm x 2.5 cm cubes will be cut and served to panelists for evaluation. Panelists will be asked to evaluate initial juiciness, sustained juiciness, tenderness (first and overall impressions), amount of connective tissue, flavor intensity and detection of off flavors on steaks cooked to 70°C. Data will be analyzed using SAS to determine the differences between the three groups of product (purebred, half blod, or indigenous) received. Reports will be written to describe the impact of Akaushi product on the industry to those in the Akaushi industry. Long Term Research Potential:It is intended that the Instron 5943 will have long-term use for researchers, specifically in the Meat Science and Muscle Biology group, at Oklahoma State University, and the potential research that can be conducted using this equipment will extend well beyond the projects outlined in this proposal. Future research using this equipmentcould include but is not limited to: 1) evaluation of how pre-harvest technologies used to improve production efficiency impact meat quality, specifically tenderness; 2) evaluation of how genetic traits impact meat quality, specifically tenderness; 3) evaluation of post-harvest practices that can be used to improve tenderness of meat products; and 4) monitoring of the meat supply in the United States to determine the distribution of tough, intermediate and tender products now and, subsequently, in future years as well. All research conducted will include involvement at the meat level only as live production research is typically conducted by the nutrition or genetics groups and the meat is provided to the meat science group (hence no IACUC approval is ever granted to the Meat Science group). Intended Education Activities: Meat Science and Food Science Courses. Meat science and food science courses such as FDSC 1133-Fundamentals of Food Science, ANSI/FDSC 3333-Meat Science, FDSC 3373-Food Chemistry, FDSC 4763-Analysis of Food Products, and ANSI/FDSC 5213-Advances in Meat Science all discuss issues related to palatability (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor) and have laboratory sessions where they evaluate in various depths the concepts of measuring those palatability traits for consumers. In any given year, approximately 175 undergraduate and 10 graduate students are exposed to the Instron equipment, the measurements that can be obtained from such equipment, and the relationship between those measurements and consumer acceptance of food products. Intended Extension Activities: Beef Quality Summit/Pork 101. Extension activities such as Beef Quality Summit and Pork 101 each have a section on tenderness and palatability measures of their respective products. In each session, participants discuss the parameters that impact tenderness, juiciness and flavor and measure shear force using the Instron equipment. In any given year, approximately 100 attendees - producers, industry professionals and agency partners - would be exposed to the utilization of the equipment.