The Effects of Cooking Process and Meat Inclusion on Pet Food Flavor and Texture Characteristics.

Kadri Koppel,Sajid Alavi,Greg Aldrich,Michael Gibson

doi:10.3390/ani4020254

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe results of this research indicate that processing (baked vs. extruded) plays an important role in determining pet food product texture. In addition, raw ingredients (fresh meat vs. meal-based) did not consistently affect product sensory characteristics. These results may help pet food technologists better understand factors that affect palatability.The pet food industry is an important portion of the food and feed industries in the US. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine cooking method (baking or extrusion), meat inclusion (0 or 20%), and extrusion thermal to mechanical energy ratios (low, medium, and high) effects on sensory and volatile properties of pet foods, and (2) to determine associations among sensory and volatile characteristics of baked and extruded pet foods. Descriptive sensory analysis and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to analyze the pet food samples. It was found that baked samples were lighter in color (2.0–2.6 baked vs. 3.5–4.3 extruded, color intensity scale 0–15), and had lower levels of attributes that indicated rancidity (i.e., fishy flavor; 0.3–0.6 baked, 0.6–1.5 extruded, scale 0–15), whereas extruded pet foods were more cohesive in mass, more friable, hard, and crisp, but less powdery than baked samples. Fresh meat inclusion tended to decrease bitterness and increase fishy flavor and cohesiveness of pet foods. High thermal to mechanical energy ratio during extrusion resulted in less musty and more porous kibbles. The main volatile compounds included aldehydes, such as hexanal and heptanal, ketones, and alcohols. Extruded samples did not contain methylpyrazine, while baked samples did not contain 2-butyl furan. Future studies should consider evaluating the relationship between sensory results and animal palatability for these types of foods.

Highlights

The pet food industry in the US continues to grow at a rate of approximately 4% per year, with a current estimated size of $19.7 billion [1]
The extraction method chosen for studying the aroma profile in the dry dog foods was headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-solid phase micro extraction (SPME)) as described by Koppel et al [13]
Meaty flavor was not identified by the panelists, it was included in the attribute list

Summary

Introduction

The pet food industry in the US continues to grow at a rate of approximately 4% per year, with a current estimated size of $19.7 billion [1]. Growth in this industry is driven by new product entries, such as naturally preserved diets; raw foods; “novel” ingredients like bison, potato, and peas; addition of nutraceuticals such as kelp, algae, acai berries; and an emphasis on fatty acid nutrition with foods containing fatty acids from fish and various seeds. To date, no studies have been found in which baked pet foods sensory characteristics have been characterized in comparison to extruded pet foods

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Conclusion