THE STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF RIPENING CONDITIONS ON THE TENDERNESS AND FRESHNESS OF POULTRY MEAT

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of various organic food acids, on the proteolytic processes taking place in chicken. A poorly acidic medium favors the process of tenderizers the meat, this being a chemical method of accelerating proteolysis. Citric acid from lemon juice, lactic acid derived from yoghurt and borscht, acetic acid of natural fermentation have been used for this purpose. Meat samples were marinated in these media for 3 days, being preserved at the refrigeration temperature. Proteic content, moisture, free amino acid content was analyzed. Determination of amino acids was performed by the method Sorensen. The moisture was analysed by drying at oven, for 1 hour at 150oC. The pH was determined using the HACH pH meter. In order to determine the tenderness of meat samples is used device that uses the compression to crushing. Transformations from the protein system have been studied for matured meat in acidic media, salty meat and compared to a blank sample which has been cooled. Very acidic media inhibited protease activity, which led to the release of a smaller amount of amino acids. It is noted that the proteolysis intensity is higher, with a maximum amino acid value of 96.4 mg/100g in the case of the matured sample in cereal borscht. The strongest inhibitory effect on proteolysis and tenderness had an acid medium with acetic acid, 65.4 mg/100g. The compression force applied to meat samples, to measure the softness has been correlated with the content of free amino acids.

Keywords: food acids, poultry meat, meat proteolysis, free amino acids, tenderness