Veterinary Quarterly

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Sensory meat quality and its assessment

F. J. M. Smulders

To cite this article: F. J. M. Smulders (1986) Sensory meat quality and its assessment, Veterinary
Quarterly, 8:2, 158-167, DOI: 10.1080/01652176.1986.9694035

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01652176.1986.9694035

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 REVIEW PAPERS

Sensory meat quality and its assessment

F. J. M. Smulders'

SUMMARY Several aspects of meat quality are briefly discussed, outlining the complex of parame-
ters affecting meat quality as a whole. Particular attention is paid to the main sensory meat quality
characteristics, which can be assessed analytically, and are known to be related to consumers'
appreciation, when buying, preparing and consuming meat. After some compositional and structural
characteristics of muscle have been outlined, the major physiologicalfactors effecting the conversion of
muscle into meat are discussed. Finally commonly used methods for the assessment of sensory meat
quality are reviewed.

INTRODUCTION the complex of factors that constitute meat

Veterinarians play an important part in the
production of meat. They are frequently
consulted on problems related to growth,
health, breeding and reproduction of farm
animals. This requires a thorough knowl-
edge of physiology, pathology and micro-
biology. Consequently the main interest of
the veterinarian-clinician concerns these
disciplines. The veterinarian-meat inspec-
tor once again pays particular attention to
pathology and microbiology.
However, the interesting field of post-mor-
tern physiology is generally left for the
meat scientists and the technologists to ex-
plore. This is not surprising in view of the
task and responsibilities of the veterinarian
to safeguard public health. Generally meat
inspection services are well informed on
potential microbiological hazards to pub-
lic health and outstanding overviews on the
subject have been published for the veterin-
arian readership. Their allegiance to this
particular concept of meat quality has re-
sulted in the tendency of veterinarians to,
unjustly, regard the term meat quality sy-
nonymous to wholesomeness. Yet meat
producers as well as consumers are as
much concerned with many other aspects
of meat quality which are tightly coupled
to physiological processes shortly before,
during and after death of the animal.
Purpose of this contribution is to outline
quality in general, to discuss sensory meat
quality in particular and to summarise the
impact of post-mortem physiology on the
main sensory quality characteristics of
fresh meat. Finally methods are described
which may be used for assessing these char-
acteristics in meat research practice.
MEAT QUALITY CONCEPTS
In daily slaughterhouse usage the term
meat quality is frequently confused with
carcass quality, which includes carcass-
composition characteristics such as weight,
meat percentage and fat cover score. These
factors constitute an important part of the
economical value of the carcass in market-
ing. The carcass grading procedures and
the associated price policy are indeed based
on the consideration that carcass build-and
-composition will generally coincide with a
better potential quality of the meat. Yet,
too many other quality determinants are
relevant in the meat industry to justify the
use of this simple concept of meat quality.
Hofmann (25) catagorised factors of meat
quality and he proposed the following defi-
nition: 'meat quality is the sum of all sen-
sory, food physiological, hygienic/toxicol-
ogical and technological factors of meat'
(26). Table 1 presents a simplified list of the
separate subfactors constituting the qual-
ity categories (25).

1 Department of the Science of Food of Animal Origin, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the University of
Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

158 THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986

 These subfactors may well be looked upon
c4 F. differently by different professional groups.
LL r, -
H< Nutritionists, meat technologists and the
U a.
f
LL J
H
veterinarian/microbiologists will some-
times attach the same values to certain sub-
Z ci)
p E Z factors and generally their professional in-
14Z0 ,u terests will not be conflicting. However,
Z u Z0 their individual interests may occasionally
Z
OZ lead to paradoxes. A well known example
U 8 nc-
is the dark firm and dry (DFD-) meat
zz
w0 < which on account of its high pH is consider-
LLHL) 3
ed potentially hazardous by microbiol-
ogists whereas technologists recognise the
excellent waterbinding properties and con-
sider DFD meat particularly fit for the
production of some types of sausages.
0 The consumers' conception of meat quality
LL
0 include factors from several of the cat-
'5 5 egories mentioned in Table 1. His expecta-
tions with regard to meat quality were re-
I. X
U
cently summarised as 'meat that is safe,
wholesome and hygienic, perceived as good
O v, quality (worth its price), that is nutritious
0
0 and is produced through aesthetical and
<
a. U
< morally acceptable methods' (17).
Q.11

LQ U Quality factors that are perceptible to the

O c7)
Z
senses have particular economic relevancy
as these factors may be experienced by the
UH consumers themselves. Yet, the frequently
Z
quoted approach 'the best definition of
quality is that which the public likes best'
(24) is incorrect as it suggests quality to be
synonymous with popularity. However, as
extensively discussed by Jellinek (33), these
conceptions are fundamentally different.
The popularity of meat is subject to con-
stant changes and shows considerable differ-
ences from nation to nation. The con-
sumers' appreciation of intramuscular fat
in Northern America (15) as opposed to
that in Western Europe (5) may illustrate
this.
It is not intended to give an exhaustive
discussion on muscle composition, chem-
istry and physiology. Detailed information
may be found in textbooks (21, 38) or in
more elaborate reviews (2). The present
article will focus on the main sensory meat
quality characteristics that are measurable
in the laboratory and that are known to be
related to the consumers' appreciation
.0 when buying, preparing and consuming
E2 meat.

THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986 159

SOME COMPOSITIONAL AND STRUCTURAL
FEATURES OF MUSCLE
Muscle is composed of 75% water, 19%
protein, 2.5% fat and 3.5% soluble non-
protein substances (57).
Not more than 5% of the total water of
muscle is directly bound to hydrophilic
groups of the proteins. The rest of the
water is divided between the so-called 'free
water', which is immobilised by the physi-
cal configuration of the proteins but not
bound to them, and the so-called 'loose
water' which is expressed when the water
holding capacity drops (21).
Fat content varies in quantity and compo-
sition between muscles and species, males
having less than females. Much of the in-
tracellular lipids are associated with mem-
brane structures. In addition considerable
amounts of lipids are present in the peri-
mysium surrounding myofibre bundles.
Macroscopically this is perceived as
'marbling'.
Muscle proteins may be classified as sarco-
plasmic, myofibrillar and stroma proteins.
Sarcoplasmic proteins are soluble in water
or salts of low ionic strength. Many of them
are enzymes involved in the breakdown of
glycogen. Myofibrillar proteins, which con-
stitute the major part of the contractile
mechanism, are only soluble in solvents
with higher ionic strength than required for
the extraction of sarcoplasmic proteins.
The main myofibrillar proteins are myosin,
actin and the troponin-tropomyosin com-
plex. Stroma proteins include collagen, re-
ticulin and elastin, all present in connect-
ive tissue, and the proteins which are
found in the membrane system of the
muscle cell organelles such as mitochon-
dria and sarcoplasmic reticulum.
The myofibrillar proteins are arranged in
repeating units of actin and myosin known
as sarcomeres. The thin myofilament actin
is composed of a double stranded helix of
actin
--
Fig. 1. The attachement of the troponin-tropomyosin complex to the actin filaments (adapted from Cohen
(11)).
160
globular G-actin. The actin helix is associat-
ed with tropomyosin, a double helix of
two unidentical peptide chains, and the
troponin complex which cements the tro-
pomyosin to the actin helix. Fig. 1 schema-
tically presents this arrangement.
The troponin complex is thought to turn
on the contraction process by binding,
the calcium ions that are released from the
sarcoplasmic reticulum after a nervous
stimulus (57). The thick myofilament myo-
sin is composed of a helical tail and a head
consisting of two globular units. The myo-
sin heads contain a site with ATPase activ-
ity and a site which forms cross bridges that
interact with actin to form actomyosin dur-
ing muscle contraction. Fig. 2a shows a
diagrammatic representation of the main
ultrastructural features of muscle.
The I band mainly consists of actin fila-
ments that are attached to a transverse
structure called Z-lines. The spacing be-
tween Z-lines is referred to as sarcomere
length. Myosin fills the entire length of the
A-band. A clear central H-zone contains
the M-line representing the cross bridges
between separate myosin filaments. Near
the boundaries of A- en I-band thin so
called N-lines are seen that may be sites of
calcium ion accumulation (57). Relying on
ultrastructural studies some investigators
(40, 41) suppose the presence of so-called
gap-filaments that are assumed to be an-
chored inside the myosin as a 'core-pro-
tein' and, running through the Z-lines,
interconnect myosin filaments of adjacent
sarcomeres. These structures may play a
role in tenderness (39).
Transverse sections through that part of
the A-band including both actin and myo-
sin have revealed that actin is arranged
hexagonally around myosin. Near the Z-
lines actin is arranged as a tetragonal net-
work. Possible the N-lines play a role in
guiding this array (39).
tropomyosin troponin
-
44,
*Ow Ara
N114111
THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986
The location of two important cell organel-
les, i.e., mitochondria and sarcoplasmic re-
ticulum, is indicated in Fig. 2a. Mitochond-
ria are the site of ATP synthesis. The
amount of mitochondria is an important
criterion in fibre-typing muscle as 'white'
(few mitochondria) and 'red' (more mito-
chondria). The sarcoplasmic reticulum mem-
branes release or concentrate calcium ions
during muscle action.
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS EFFECTING THE
CONVERSION OF MUSCLE TO MEAT
Before discussing the assessment of sen-
sory meat quality some physiological
events that underlie the conversion of
muscle to meat should be looked into. Fig.
3 presents a diagram outlining these pro-
cesses with special reference to their impact
on sensory quality characteristics such as
colour, waterbinding, tenderness and fla-
vour.
In the living animal the blood circulation
provides the muscle fibres with oxxygen
and glucose. Whenever muscle action is
required nervous stimuli effect a depolaris-
ation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum mem-
brane. This results in a release of calcium
ions which activate the enzymes that con-
vert glycogen into pyruvate and eventually
into carbondioxide and water in the mito-
chondria. In the course of this process ade-
nosine diphospate (ADP) is phosphorylat-
ed to adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Initial-
ly the muscle relies on the muscle-specific
creatine phosphate (CP) to supply the high
energy phosphate. The conversion of ATP
to ADP directly supplies the energy needed
for muscle contraction and metabolic activ-
ities. This is effected by calcium ions, releas-
ed by the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which
A al. I
a. ; H
ZN M NZN
. . h . . .
CP
Fig. 2a. Diagrammatic presentation of the ultrastructure of muscle.
Fig. 2b. Transverse section through the A-band, including both actin and myosin.
THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986
stimulate myosin ATP-ase.
Muscle relaxation also requires ATP as
myosin rods will only be allowed to shift
out of the sheaths formed by the actin fila-
ments provided ATP is present in its func-
tion of 'plasticizer' (3). Under anaerobic
conditions ATP is synthesised via the com-
paratively inefficient glycolysis leading to
lactate which may be resynthesised to gly-
cogen in the liver via the Cori cycle (gluco-
neogenesis).
When an animal is slaughtered it is subject-
ed to a state of shock which acts upon the
muscle as a complex of nervous stimuli.
Since carbohydrate and oxygen supply
have ceased the muscles are dependent on
glycolysis for their energy synthesis from
the moment CP reserves have been deplet-
ed. Consequently comparatively little ATP
is re-synthesised. Moreover, the enzymes
catalysing glycolysis and ATP breakdown
are activated and lactate and metabolites
such as adenosine monophosphate (AMP)
are formed. As a result the muscle pH gra-
dually falls. Rigor mortis sets in when too
little ATP is available to keep the actin and
myosin filaments apart in a relaxed state.
This occurs when the ATP residue is ap-
proximately 20% of its initial concentra-
tion (22).
The biochemical reactions in the period
before rigor mortis, which is generally re-
ferred to as 'conditioning', have a great
impact on sensory meat quality character-
istics. The actomyosin formation effects a
tenderness decrease. Temperature condi-
tions during storage may affect the degree
of contraction in the rigor state. This is
particularly observed in lean lightweight
lamb, veal and beef carcasses subjected to
rapid chilling while there is still a consider-
A
; H
M NZ
actin
myosin
' mitochondrion
s a rco plasmic
reticulum
glycogen
jgranula
; c6G ly sosome
sarcolemma
b.
collagen
161
 LIVER MUSCLE
.
lactate lactate . lactate
N
/
Car-activated enzymes anaerobically
glucose 6 tv glucose 6 ® pyruvate
t
glucose i i
/------
02 ADP ItCi --a. H20
The aerobically V
ATP .----rd02 + H20
11 glucose
glycogen Iglycogen CP C ,.../ 0
ENERGY

slaughter
V
glucose 6 ® ca2
4

4,
activation
of enzymes

ADP C
®
pyruvate H20 ATP 0
5
E
conditioning
lactate + H H + ADP 0
ADP
T
90%1 110 V.

pH -fal irreversible AMP

actomyosin - - - [ATP] 20%
formation: of initial
concentration
RIGOR
MORTIS

1 1
COLOUR *--WATER TENDERNESS I
LIGHTER RETENTION
enzymatic CAF IMP
proteolysis:
PROTEIN
aging CHARGE ..---degradation
1 11
COLOUR WATER TENDERNESSI FLAVOUR I
LIGHTER RETENTION

Fig. 3. Diagrammatic presentation of the physiological factors effecting the conversion of muscle to meat.

able supply of ATP available. The low
temperatures result in an increased release
of calcium ions from the mitochondria
whereas the facility with which the sarco-
plasmic reticulum withdraws calcium ions
from the sarcoplasm is reduced. The in-
creased calcium ion concentration stimu-
lates the contractile mechanism of the
muscle and causes an increased toughness
known as cold shortening. Since 'red'
muscles contain more mitochondria than
'white' muscles the former are particularly
prone to cold shortening (57).
The accumulation of hydrogen ions pro-
duced during glycogen and ATP break-
down results in a pH fall. The decreased
repulsive forces between proteins, which
are brought about by the low pH result in a
loss of water retention (21). Moreover, the
loss of ATP and the consequent formation
of actomyosin will cause a loss of the water
retention at any pH. This arises from the
fact that the water holding capacity of ac-
tomyosin is less than that of myosin and
actin from which it forms. Furthermore,
lower ATP levels may initiate denaturation
of those proteins whose integrity in vivo is
particularly dependent on the provision of
energy (38). A result of the. loss of water
retention is that the muscle pigment myo-
globin will be seen through a denser mesh
of water molecules and the meat colour will
appear lighter.
When glycogen reserves are severely deplet-
ed ante-mortem the post-mortem muscle
pH will stay high which results in dark,

162 THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986

 firm and dry (DFD) meat. DFD is observ- The scientific principles of sensory analysis
ed in meat such as pork, mutton and beef by such panels have been documented ex-
and is associated with excitation or stress- tensively (1) and procedures for training
ful conditions ante-mortem. In contrast, and testing panelists for meat evaluation
certain breeds of susceptible pigs produce have been proposed (12).
pale, soft, exudative (PSE) meat (10). In Although not considered a complete sub-
PSE carcasses there is a very rapid early stitute for taste panel evaluation, the re-
post-mortem pH-fall and onset of rigor sults of objective tests to assess quality are
mortis. The decreased water holding capac- promising for some of the criteria particu-
ity of such meat is related to the denatura- larly colour, tenderness and juiciness.
tion of sarcoplasmic proteins as well as
lower ultimate pH. pH and temperature measurement
Already starting before completion of rigor Two basic methods for pH measurement
mortis (dependent of species varying from are available. The first and most simple is
8-48 h post-mortem) the aging process con- the use of indicator paper. Between the two
tinues progressively in the post rigor extreme pH values the paper acquires
period. Due to progressing damage of in- different colours that are compared with a
tracellular membranes, particularly those colour scale. This method is rather impre-
of the lysosomes, enzymes such as acid ca- cise. The second and more commonly used
thepsins are released and autolysis of the method is the potentiometric pH determi-
myofibrillar proteins starts (44). Addition- nation. Its principle is the measurement of
ally a so-called 'calcium-activated factor' a potential difference between a glass and a
(CAF), not located in a membrane-bound reference electrode (generally combined
subcellular particle, contributes to the de- into one single probe) which
are placed in
gradation of proteins in the Z-line (49). the muscle at a depth of at least 2 cm (31).
Consequently tenderness is re-increased The rapidity of pH fall in carcasses is often
while water retention is adversely affected. measured in the longissimus muscle. This
Products of glycogen and protein degrada- seems justified because of the commercial
tion (lactic acid, peptones, amino acids) value of this muscle, its tendency to de-
together with ATP metabolites, particu- velop high pH values and the greater range
larly inosin monophosphate (IMP), deter- of pH values of the muscle as compared
mine the typical meat flavour (2). with others (53). In the laboratory the pH
can also be measured in a slurry of equal
THE ASSESSMENT OF SENSORY MEAT parts of muscle and isotonic saline. A re-
QUALITY PARAMETERS
presentative sample should at least weight
The consumers' inclination to buy fresh 200 g (31). Recently a plug sampling tech-
meat is determined by two main groups of nique has been developed which enables an
factors. The first group may be described accurate pH measurement in a homogen-
as appearance (including texture and col- ate of only 2 g, causing minimal damage to
our), the second one as eating quality (in- the carcass (45). Factors that affect the ac-
cluding tenderness, juiciness and flavour). curacy of measurement of pH have been
Conditions such as pH and temperature summarised by Van Logtestijn (42). Par-
which were shown to have a major impact ticularly environmental conditions such as
on these factors, can only be determined temperature and relative humidity appear
with objective methods. However, many to have major effects.
meat quality traits may be assessed both Intermittent temperature measurements in
subjectively and objectively. carcasses are usually performed with needle
Subjective quality evaluation relies on the type probes that may be inserted deep into
physical senses of a panel of judges. These the muscle tissue. Continuous temperature
may be 'house-hold' type panels composed monitoring is realised through insertion of
of untrained panelists, or trained panels thermocouples connected to a recorder. In
consisting of judges whose ability to differ- both cases differences are measured as
entiate correctly for different quality at- electric signals which are translated as de-
tributes has previously been ascertained. grees Celsius. .

THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986 163

Muscle structure
Muscle texture is determined by structure,
tenderness and juiciness. In fresh meat
coarseness of grain (muscle fasciculi) is the
only textural feature that may be assessed
by the consumer. The coarseness of grain is
primarily related to age and weight of the
carcass (24) and it is considered an import-
ant factor affecting the eating quality of
meat (24, 50, 51). The larger the fibre
bundle diameter (the coarser the meat), the
tougher it is. In practice this quality at-
tribute may be judged by passing the ball of
the thumb over the cut transverse surface
of a muscle and feeling its degree of
smoothness (24).
The impact of cross sectional fibre diame-
ter which is assessed microscopically is re-
garded a less reliable parameter for tender-
ness (Berry et al. 1971, cited by 2, 55).
Colour
The colour of fresh meat is determined
largely by the concentration of the chromo-
protein myoglobin and to some extent by
the concentration of hemoglobin. The dis-
tribution and above all the chemical state
of myoglobin have a major impact on the
perception of colour. The chemistry and
related aspects of myoglobin have been
discussed in detail by Giddings (19). Of
major importance is the relative propor-
tion of oxymyoglobin, myoglobin and met-
myoglobin. For this reason meat that has
to be tested for colour should be exposed to
air for at least an hour ('blooming'). More-
over, the colour is determined by the reflect-
ance of myoglobin, seen through a mesh
of water molecules the thickness of which is
pH dependent. Consequently simply assess-
ing the heme pigment (30) often does not
yield results that are closely related to vis-
ual colour ratings.
Absolute colour scores cannot be provided
through visual assessment since it is extrem-
ely difficult for humans to develop a col-
our 'memory'. Useful aids are colour
standards (16). For beef (47) and pork (43)
such standards are used jn slaughterhouse
practice.
The principles of objective colour measure-
ment have been reported by Klettner and
Stiebling (37). A simple colour measure-
ment is achieved through measurement of
164
differences in reflectance of the red colour
component. The Göfo equipment develop-
ed for fresh pork and beef is based on this
principle. The more complicated tri-stimu-
lus equipment is also based on the reflect-
ance measurement of light which is thrown
on the meat surface at an angle of 45°.
Colour coordinates shown in Figure 4, are
recorded. A frequently used system is the
CIElab L*, a*, b* or the Hunter L, a, b
relative to light source C. L-values repre-
sent lightness (black-white continuum) and
a-value (red-green) and b-value (blue-yel-
low) determine the colour tint (tg-t-) and
saturation ( \/a2 + b2). Colour values thus
assessed are absolute and reproducible.
Tenderness
The major part of muscles consists of the
myofibrillar proteins. The impact of pH
and temperature fall in the early post-mor-
tem period on these proteins has already
been discussed. To reveal a possible though-
ening by cold shortening sarcomere length
should be assessed. This may be achieved
by microscopial techniques or by laser
diffraction. The latter method is based on
the fact that the alternating units of actin
and myosin act as a lattice. Consequently
the formulae for light diffraction are ap-
plicable (wave length of laser light = sar-
comere length x sine of the diffraction
angle) (37a, 56).
The myofibrillar proteins are enveloped
by a number of connective tissue fibres.
Although these constitute only a small per-
centage of the total muscle protein the
strength of the collagen fibres is of such a
w
.1.t)
yekk9v4
black
Fig. 4. Colour coordinates.
THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986
 magnitude that it is a major contributor to
meat toughness. As an animal grows older
the amount of cross linking between col-
lagen fibres increases and thus the connect-
ive tissue solubility is adversely affected
(35). To attain a satisfactory tenderness in
meat of older animals heating methods and
-temperatures have to be adapted.
Buchter (9) summarised the influence of
heating temperature on meat tenderness.
From 40 to 50° C the increasing denatura-
tion of myofibrillar proteins results on a 3
to 4-fold toughening. In the 60-75° C tra-
ject connective tissue- myofibrillar- and
sarcoplasmic proteins shrink almost maxi-
mally resulting in yet another two-fold
toughening (14) or even a four-fold tough-
ening in cold shortened meat (6). A tempera-
ture of 70-80° will 'cook' the meat to the
extent that it is firm and well-done. Finally
temperatures of 80-100° C will solubilise
the connective tissue and make myofibrils
fragile.
The reference heating method for beef as
agreed on by an EEC-working group on
meat quality recommends heating in a
thin-walled polythene bag in water of 75° C
followed by cooling in running water for at
least 40 min (4). The American reference
methods mention heating temperatures of
70, 75 and 75° C for beef, lamb and fresh
pork respectively (13). The increase of the
core temperature is monitored by thermo-
couples.
Samples from the cooked meat are excised
using cork bores. The meat cylinders with
an approximate diameter of 1 cm' may be
used both for sensory and instrumental
tenderness evaluation.
Sensory evaluation is generally performed
by an experienced taste panel. For the pur-
pose of assessment of differences the tradi-
tional paired comparison tests (29, 54) are
available. The main advantage of these
methods is the simplicity which makes the
results very reliable. Panel members are
asked to indicate preference within one
pair of samples. Assigning scores to the
samples may help to quantify the differen-
ces. Several scoring scales are possible.
Numerical scales (a series of numbers rang-
ing from low to high and understood to
represent successive levels of tenderness)
are commonly used.
THE VETERINARY QUARTERLY, VOL. 8, No. 2, APRIL 1986
Several objective methods are available for
tenderness assessment (36). Two devices
are generally used i.e. the Warner Bratzler
shear device and the Volodkevich bite ten-
derometer. The Warner Bratzler shear con-
sists of a 1 mm thick stainless steel blade
with a hole in which the sample is placed.
The blade is led through a slid between two
shear bars and the amount of shearing
force is recorded. The Volodkevich device
consists of rounded wedges or bars be-
tween which the meat samples are squeezed
and sheared until they eventually break.
Both Warner Bratzler and Volodkevich
devices are usually mounted on a draw
bench connected to a recorder which prints
the way-force diagram. A commonly used
draw bench is the Instron Universal Test-
ing Machine. Sometimes low shear forces
are found concomitantly with low panel
tenderness scores. This apparent contra-
diction is attributed to a high connective
tissue resistance (46). Therefore both in-
strumental and sensory evaluation of ten-
derness should be conducted.
Juiciness
The term water holding or water binding
capacity is confusingly used for three differ-
ent conceptions of water binding which
were recently recognised as water binding
potential (WBP, referring to the ability to
hold water in excess and under the in-
fluence of an external force like salt), ex-
pressible moisture (representing the
amount of liquid squeezed from a protein
system by the application of force) and
finally free drip (referring to the amount of
liquid lost by a protein system without the
application of external force other than
gravity) (32).
Drip loss is particularly effected by pres-
sure on the myofibrillar system in the
course of rigor. Severe muscle shortening
(28, 52) as well as sarcoplasmic protein
denaturation may enhance this. Another
parameter of water binding i.e. heating loss
primarily reveals the influence of pressure
resulting from heat coagulation. The latter
effect appears to be much higher than the
shrinking of the raw tissue during storage
(23).
Whereas water binding potential is rel-
evant in meat processing the expressible
165
 moisture and free drip particularly relate to
fresh meat. Two basic methods are avail-
able to measure expressible moisture. In
the filter press method by Grau and Hamm
(20) a meat sample is pressed between plexi-
glass leaving a ring of water in the filter
paper the diameter of which is considered
to be related to water binding. Modifica-
tions of this method are the centrifugal
methods which essentially combine the
gravimetric adaptation of the press method
with the application of a centrifugal force
(7, 8, 32).
Free drip is measured by weighing samples.
Recommended procedures agreed upon by
an EEC working group on meat quality are
in preparation.
Hofmann's capillary volumeter (27) was
developed to differentiate between watery
and normal meat. It is based on the absorp-
tive capacity of a porous plaster shape. The
meat juice absorbed by capillary forces of
the plaster pushes a corresponding quan-
tity of air out of the plaster shape which is
indicated volumetrically by the liquid col-
umn level in a rising tube. The method is
reported to be particularly fit for PSE meat
(18).
Flavour
The chemical basis for flavour develop-
ment in meat has been reviewed extensively
(58, 48). Mainly water-soluble constituents
are responsible for the particular meaty
flavour. The species differences in flavour
are attributed to differences in the flavour
of the lipid fraction. As yet, sensory evalua-
tion appears to be the only reliable method
for assessing meat flavour. Jellinek (34)
reviewed the methodology for flavour ana-
lysis.
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