Effect of Skimmed Milk Powder Incorporation on the Physico-chemical and Sensory Characteristics of Restructured Buffalo Meat Blocks

Abstract

Kumar, S. and Sharma, B.D. 2003. Effect of skimmed milk powder incorporation on the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of restructured buffalo meat blocks. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 23: 217–222. Restructuring of meat from spent animals brings about convenience in product preparation, besides enhancing tenderness and value addition. Milk proteins have been shown to offer added functionality and nutritional properties in some meat products. This study was undertaken to evaluate the incorporation of skimmed milk powder (SMP) at 0, 2, 4 and 6 per cent levels replacing lean meat in prestandardized restructured buffalo meat blocks. There was a progressive improvement in the cooking yield, protein, shrinkage, binding strength and sensory characteristics of the meat blocks with increasing levels of skimmed milk powder incorporation. At 2 per cent SMP incorporation, most of the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of the product were found to be comparable to control and 4per cent SMP products. However, incorporation of 6 per cent skimmed milk powder in the product brought about a significant (P<0.05) improvement in protein, flavour, binding strength and overall acceptability as compared to control. Shrinkage loss was also significantly reduced.