Mechanical Deboning of Poultry and Fish

Abstract

This chapter discusses that the process of mechanical deboning of fish and poultry meat has received increasing attention during the past 30 years. Mechanical deboning of fish began in Japan in the late 1940s. Mechanical deboning basically involves grinding the meat and bone together and forcing the meat through a fine screen or slotted surface of a mechanical deboner. The shearing action of the mechanical deboning process causes considerable cellular disruption. The mechanical deboning of poultry or fish affects the proximate composition. The mechanical separation process, as with hand separation techniques, may leave small amounts of powdered bone. If mechanically deboned poultry and fish are to replace hand-deboned sources in various products, the protein quality must be maintained. During the mechanical deboning process, lipid components from the bone marrow are incorporated into the mechanically separated product. Consumer groups have expressed concern over the possible inclusion of bone fragments in mechanically deboned poultry meat. The mechanical deboning process releases substantial quantities of hemoglobin from the bone marrow, which is subsequently extruded with the mechanically deboned poultry. The mechanical deboning process has been found to affect storage stability. Color abnormalities (brown, green, and gray) are known to be a problem in mechanically deboned poultry and fish. Processing conditions during deboning and modifications thereafter influence the textural characteristics of mechanically deboned fish and poultry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the production of mechanically deboned poultry meat, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates fish and fishery products.