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This research will focus on developing innovative processing that add value to fresh or processed meat products, including red meat, poultry and fish. More specifically, this research will be conducted in the four major areas for the next 5 years: <OL> <LI> Preriogr/hot boning process. Hot boning is a processing technique where the muscle is fabricated or further processed while the muscle is in a prerigor condition. The main goal of this project is to prove some innovative ideas from bench-top research to the pilot plant scale. In bench-top trials, the concept of "Frozen in Vacuum (FIV)" will be evaluated by comparing prerigor muscles with chill boned controls on shear force, pH, color, yield, protein extractability, cold shortening, and cure penetration. Proof of the concept and robust results through this research will provide open the door for a key solution. <LI> Air chilled poultry process. Water immersion chill of poultry carcasses has been a common method in the United States due to its efficiency and economic advantage. Air chilling, although in its infant stage in the USA, is expected to provide quality improvement (taste and no cross-contamination), less water consumption, waste water reduction and poultry products export to countries in the European Union. Therefore, a part of the goals of this project is to evaluate the effects of air and water chilling methods on broiler carcass appearance, status/stability of moisture gain (or loss), textural quality, protein functionality and sensory profiles of breast muscle. Successful completion of this project will provide up-to-date information of air-chilled chicken quality which might help poultry processors to evaluate the adoption of the air-chill technology, and consumers to made the "right decision" on purchasing. <LI> Fish process for under-utilized species. Demand for fish and fish products are rapidly increasing while the resource of fish protein is diminishing. In the USA, however, several fish species are abundantly but underutilized because of a soft tissue problem. The focus of this research is to increase the quality of these fish muscles by lowering the muscle moisture via a cool air drying followed by a rapid cook. If this method is successfully adapted, AF other species having similar proteinase issues could be processed for highly desirable white flesh which are being currently thrown back into ocean after catching. <LI> Application of IgY against pathogenic organisms. Chicken egg yolk antibody (immunoglobulin, IgY) is a food grade component that can result in passive immunity when used as a feed additive. For food safety, pathogen-specific IgY(s) will be used to inhibit the growth of single or multiple pathogens in fresh and processed meats. The overall goal of this project is to demonstrate that pathogen-specific IgY prevents the organism's growth on fresh and/or processed meats during extended storage. Successful results will provide a new antimicrobial agent which is natural component and requires trace amount only.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: (1) Preriogr/hot boning process In the processing technique so-called "frozen-in-vacuum (FIV)" appears to have the following advantages in meat processing: 1. A tender muscle like the one from a tenderstretch hang 2. Minimum shortening from chilling/frozen-thawing due to fiber immobilization 3. No line constraint due to a flexible schedule for frozen muscles. 4. Maintaining of high pH and moisture 5. Additional microbial safety and stability. 6. Easy marinade/infusion. 7. Health benefit with less salt or phosphate on protein extraction. 8. A wide range of adoption. As this research is moving forward, an innovative process for hot boning will be developed. (2) Air chilled poultry process. Limited research in the United States has been conducted for the effect of air chill on carcass quality. In order to provide practical and necessary information for both consumers and poultry processors, this project is designed with two experiments. In experiment 1, combined effects of scalds and chills will be evaluated for visual appearance, moisture contents and carcass chilling rate. In experiment 2, both intact muscle and processed products will be evaluated for muscle functionality and textural sensory by using machinery and human sensory tools. The results of this research are expected to provide necessary information for poultry processors and cosumers who are interested in the new technology. (3). Fish process for under-utilized species. In response to the increased demand of fish and surimi products, fish industry initially attempted to overfish traditional species that led to governmental controls with entry-limit or catch-quotas. No method was successfully developed to process abundant but under-utilized fish fillets due to protease problems, expecially for Arrowtooth Flounder or Pacific Whiting. The purpose of this project is to develop a new cooking method via the combination of chill-drying and rapid cooking. During the chilling drying, the fillet will lose the moisture content and the subsequent fast-cooking will minizmie the enzyme activity during the process. With successul restus, the abundant but underutillized fish species will be processedn and turned into valuable products. (4) Application of IgY against pathogenic organisms. Post-processing contamination on ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products with Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is a main concern of meat processors. Much of this problem is expected from the widespread of LM in meat-processing environments. The goal of this project is to evaluate the effects of liquid IgY as an antimicrobial agent against LM and other pathogens in RTE products. Successful completion of this project will provide the industry with an alternative means for inactivating pathogens including LM on the surfaces of casings (prior to being contaminated) and/or RTE products via an antigen-antibody reaction during prolonged refrigerated storage.
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APPROACH: (1) Preriogr/hot boning process. Pre-rigor muscles from lamb, beef, or poultry will be immediately obtained and stretched in vacuum chamber. The stretched muscles are then immobilized by freezing in vacuum by dipping the vacuum chamber into a ethanol/dry-ice bath. The resulting muscles will be thawed at various temperatures to assess the optimum condition for minimizing thaw-rigor toughening. With the muscle, the following will be evaluated: muscle tenderness, sarcomere length, moisture content, pH, R-value, water holding capacity, cook yield.(2) Air chilled poultry process. To evaluate the effects of air-chill, following two experiments will be conducted: I. Evaluation of carcass color/appearance, moisture gain/loss and specific chilling profiles from air, evaporative air and water immersion chill methods. 1a. Investigate the effects of scald (soft and hard) and compare chill techniques(air, evaporative air and water immersion) on carcass color and visual appearance. 1b. Evaluate the overall moisture gain or loss immediately after chill, amount of moisture released during/after carcass cut-up, amount of moisture content in 5 different muscles and skins. 1c. Obtain the information of muscle temperature reduction by air speed/temperature, frequency of water-spraying, and time to an end-chill temperature (40F or less). II. Assessment of protein functionality, breast tenderness, and sensory profiles. 2a. Measure muscle pHs and prepare protein gels from the breast muscles received different chilling methods. 2b. Evaluate protein functionality by a torsion test (stress/strain), moisture content and cooking loss (protein gel). 2c. Characterize shear force, cooking loss (breast fillet) and sensory properties. 3 Fish process for under-utilized species. The enzyme inactivation will be tested by lowering AF's muscle moisture via a cool air drying followed by a rapid cook. For an effective drying, AF muscle will be fabricated to various sizes and the air temperature/speed will be adjusted. For a rapid cook, the dried muscle will be exposed to many heating systems such as convection, conduction, microwave, impingement, smoke house chamber, etc. 4 Application of IgY against pathogenic organisms. First, IgY will be obtained from immunized chicken egg yolk with a simple water dilution method. The IgY obtained from immunized chicken egg yolks will first be characterized for specific activity against L. monocytogenes in a liquid medium. IgY, then, will be evaluated for its listeriostatic/listeriocidal action in fibrous casings for processed meat products. More specifically, hot dogs will be inoculated with the pathogen after spraying IgY at three different points during post-cook processing: (1) the fibrous casing after cooking. (2). the product surface after casing removal, and (3) the empty package tray surface before filling. Thereafter, the efficacy of IgY as a Listeria growth inhibitor will be evaluated at 4, 7 and 10 C, representing the range of consumer storage temperatures. After determining the most effective concentration and treatment method, both the impact of sensory attributes and approximate cost of antibody generation will be evaluated.