EFFECTS OF INNER PEA FIBER AND ENDPOINT TEMPERATURE ON FAT RETENTION AND WATER ACTIVITY IN GROUND BEEF

Authors: ANDERSON, ELLEN - UNIV OF MD; Berry, Bradford

Submitted to: Annual Meeting of Research and Development for Military Food & Packaging
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/11/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Underconsumption of calories and nutrients by military personnel is a serious problem that affects performance of duties and overall health. Thus, the U.S. military has expressed a need for high calorie, intermediate moisture beef items for troops engaged in physically demanding field operations. Keeping high levels of fat in shelf-stable meat product under high climatic temperatures typical of military operations has not proven successful. Previous studies had shown that fiber processed from the inner membrane of yellow peas (inner pea fiber) possessed the ability of holding large amounts of fat in meat products during heating. The present studies involved higher levels of fat (40, 50 percent) and a greater substitution of meat with pea fiber (10, 12, 14, 16 percent). It was found that in a ground beef product containing 40 percent fat, all of the fat could be retained during heating if 14 percent inner pea fiber was in the product. Use of inner pea fiber also reduced water activity (indicator of shelf stability) to a level capable of being shelf stable. Use of inner pea fiber holds considerable promise in holding large amounts of fat in shelf-stable meat products.

Technical Abstract: Underconsumption of calories is a problem that affects soldiers' performance of duties and overall health. The U.S. military has an interest in developing calorie-dense rations for personnel who may benefit from a higher fat diet during field operations. Various ingredients were tested for fat binding ability in cooked ground beef. The highest fat retention was obtained using inner pea fiber. Varying concentrations of inner pea fiber (10, 12, 14 or 16 percent) were added to high-fat ground beef (40 or 50 percent fat). Moisture and fat content of raw and cooked product were measured. The second series of experiments focused on the effect of endpoint temperature on fat retention in high-fat ground beef-pea fiber product. Two ground beef formulations (30 or 50 percent fat with 16 percent pea fiber) were cooked to various endpoint temperatures. Water activity (Aw) of these formulations was examined. A 10 percent or more addition of pea fiber resulted in substantially higher fat retention in both 40 and 50 percent fat ground beef. Fat retention increased to 100 percent in the 14 percent pea fiber formulation containing 40 percent fat. Fat retention decreased as endpoint temperature in the product increased. Samples exceeding internal temperatures of 110 C still had an average fat retention of 79 percent. Aw was generally lower in raw and cooked ground beef formulations with added pea fiber than in all-beef controls. Average Aw for 30 percent fat ground beef-pea fiber product cooked for 17 minutes was 0.81, whereas the average Aw for the all-beef control was 0.95. Inner pea fiber enhances fat retention and decreases Aw values in cooked ground beef. This ingredient should prove useful in applications requiring high fat retention, high temperature processing, and decreased water activity.