147 Tenderness and Retail Display Evaluation of Non-Enhanced, Enhanced and High-Quality Pork Chops

Abstract

Abstract Quality variation within the pork industry is commonly associated with intramuscular fat and muscle color. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of packaging, pork quality types, and cooking temperature on color and shear force. Normal, non-enhanced (N, n = 10), Enhanced with salt and phosphate (E, n = 10) and Highly Marbled (H, n = 10) pork loins from a local food distributor. Loins were cut into 2.54-cm-thick chops and assigned to retail display or tenderness evaluation. Retail display chops were assigned to 1 of 3 packaging treatments: polyvinyl chloride overwrap (PVC), carbon monoxide modified atmosphere packaging (CO-MAP) and high-oxygen modified atmospheric packaging (HiOx-MAP). Visual color measurement for muscle color (MC), fat color (FC), surface discoloration (SD), and surface color uniformity (SCU) was recorded on d 0, 2, and 4 of retail display. Pork tenderness was evaluated at 3 different degrees of doneness (63, 68, & 74°C) using Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) force. There were significant treatment and packaging interactions for muscle color. For muscle color score, E pork loins had a significantly lower (P < 0.05) muscle color score compared with N and H loins indicative of a brighter, more pale pink color. In addition, CO- and HiOx-MAP packaged chops were significantly brighter (P < 0.05) compared to PVC chops. There were treatment and degree of doneness main effects (P < 0.05) for WBS force values. Enhanced pork loins were more tender (P < 0.05) than N pork loins. Furthermore, pork chops cooked to 63 °C were more tender than chops cooked to 68 and 73°C. In conclusion, enhanced chops packaged in CO- or HiOx-MAP result in a brighter color of lean compared non-enhanced and high-quality. Additionally, the results suggest that enhanced, non-enhanced, and high-quality pork products available in market have different quality parameters.