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Title: Effect of postmortem aging and hydrodynamic pressure processing on pork loin quality

Author
item Bowker, Brian
item Liu, Martha
item Eastridge, Janet
item BOARMAN, JANICE
item Paroczay, Ernest
item Solomon, Morse

Submitted to: Journal of Muscle Foods
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2008
Publication Date: 4/9/2010
Citation: Bowker, B.C., Liu, M., Eastridge, J.S., Callahan, J.A., Paroczay, E.W., Solomon, M.B. 2010. Effect of postmortem aging and hydrodynamic pressure processing on pork loin quality. Journal of Muscle Foods. 21(2):379-398.

Interpretive Summary: This study demonstrates that hydrodynamic pressure processing (HDP) is an effective postharvest technology for enhancing aging tenderization in pork loins through the physical disruption of the muscle ultrastructure while having minimal detrimental impacts on other pork quality parameters such as water-holding capacity and color.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the influence of hydrodynamic pressure processing (HDP) and aging on the overall quality and protein characteristics of pork loins. Boneless pork loins (n=12) were split into halves assigned control and HDP treatments. Following treatment on day 0, each half was divided into two portions (0 and 7 days aging). Samples were removed for the determination of Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), centrifugal drip loss (CDL), gravitational drip loss (GDL), color, protein solubility, and SDS-PAGE analysis of whole muscle protein extracts. WBSF decreased with HDP (P<0.05) and aging treatments (P<0.0001). CDL decreased (P<0.0001) with aging. Controls exhibited slightly less GDL after 1 day than HDP samples, but the increase in GDL between 1 and 7 days was similar for control and HDP samples. Treatment effects on L*a*b* measurements were minimal. Myofibrillar and total protein solubility were higher (p<0.01) in HDP samples compared to controls at day 0 but not at day 7. Sarcoplasmic protein solubility decreased (p<0.05) with aging. SDS-PAGE analysis of muscle proteins demonstrated a strong aging effect and only minor HDP differences. With aging, bands corresponding to 30-33 kDa and 135 kDa increased (p<0.0001) while bands corresponding to 38 kDa and 95 kDa decreased (P<0.05) in intensity (relative to the actin band). The 60 kDa band intensity increased (p<0.05) with both aging and HDP treatments. Thus, data from this study suggest that HDP enhances aging tenderization in pork loins through the physical disruption of the muscle ultrastructure while having little detrimental effect on other parameters of pork quality.