MEAT SPAGHETTI TENSILE STRENGTH AND EXTENSIBILITY AS INDICATORS OF THE MANUFACTURING QUALITY OF THAWED BEEF

Abstract

ABSTRACT The functional attributes of thawed whole, diced or minced high‐ (6.10–6.79) and normal‐ (5.40–5.79) pH longissimus dorsi muscles of a line of bulls were determined, and the meat was used to prepare sausage and meat spaghetti batters. The torsion stress and strain to failure of cooked sausages and the tensile strength and extensibility of the cooked meat spaghetti were determined. The results of bivariate regression indicate that meat spaghetti tensile strength and extensibility had a significant (P < 0.01) correlation to pH, sarcoplasmic protein solubility, water‐holding capacity, cooked batter torsion stress, strain, yield and emulsion stability. Regression analysis of batter torsion stress on meat spaghetti tensile strength and extensibility indicated that torsion stress could be predicted by tensile strength only, with extensibility not adding any further predictive ability. On the other hand, torsion strain could be predicted by extensibility only, with tensile strength not providing any extra predictive ability. The reverse of both of these regressions was not true. Torsion stress =–14.296 + 0.2935 * tensile strength (r2 = 0.92) and torsion strain = 0.452 + 0.0936 * extensibility (r2 = 0.90). Within the parameters of the present study, meat spaghetti tensile strength and extensibility could be used to determine the manufacturing quality of frozen beef.