Impact of Ingredient Ratios on Ground Beef Loaf Quality

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: to develop a model ground beef loaf system which would be he basis for developing reduced fat meatlof products.The emphasis on healthy, low fat diets and the decline in beef consumption have resulted in attempts to reduce fat calories in comfort foods. Response surface methodology was utilized to predict an optimum ground beef loaf. A Box-Behnken design consisting of the following treatments: {distilled water (DW) (45, 51, 57, 63, 69g); bread crumbs (BC) (30, 33, 36, 39, 42g); egg whites (EW) (51, 54, 57, 60, 63g); and ground beef fat (GBF) levels (10, 13.3, 20, 26.7, 30%)} were evaluated in a meat loaf formulation comprised of 447g ground beef and 0.3g salt. Variables evaluated were yield, proximate composition (PC), cookout (CO). Instron Lee Kramer, pH, and water holding capacity (WHC). Sensory attributes (juiciness, firmness, mouthfeel, flavor, and overall acceptability were measured using a hedonic scale (5=like extremely and l=dislike extremely). The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) response surface regression was used for model determination. Individual response surface models for yield, sensory, PC, CO, Instron, pH, and WHC did not indicate an optimum response. However, meatloafs formulated with reduced ground beef fat levels (10%) increased yield from 80.2% to 85.2%. Similarly, high levels of egg whites (63g) and bread crumbs (42g) increased yield. A SCORE {SCORE = l(Sensory) + 12(Yield + WHC) + 13(Instron) + 14(PC) + 1/5(CO) + 1/6(pH)} was generated using weighted linear combinations of the variables. Procedure regression with stepwise selection was used to maximize the coefficient of determination and select the maximum score. Formulations with scores above 15 were selected for further evaluation. Two formulations {(45g DW, 42g BC, 63g EW, 10% GBF (LWHB); 69g DW, 30g BC, 63g EW, 10% GBF (HWLB)} were evaluated. A higher cooked yield (86.4%) was obtained from the LWHB formulation. With the current emphasis on healthy and low-fat diets, this ground beef loaf formulation was not only nutritionally healthy, but also palatable.