Fatty acid profile and bacteriological quality of caiman meat subjected to high hydrostatic pressure

Principles and Applications of Non-Thermal Technologies for Meat Decontamination

Meat contains high-value protein compounds that might degrade as a result of oxidation and microbial contamination. Additionally, various pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms can grow in meat. Moreover, contamination with pathogenic microorganisms above the infectious dose has caused foodborne illness outbreaks. To decrease the microbial population, traditional meat preservation methods such as thermal treatment and chemical disinfectants are used, but it may have limitations for the maintenance of meat quality or the consumers acceptance. Thus, non-thermal technologies (e.g., high-pressure processing, pulsed electric field, non-thermal plasma, pulsed light, supercritical carbon dioxide technology, ozone, irradiation, ultraviolet light, and ultrasound) have emerged to improve the shelf life and meat safety. Non-thermal technologies are becoming increasingly important because of their advantages in maintaining low temperature, meat nutrition, and short processing time. Especially, pulsed light and pulsed electric field treatment induce few sensory and physiological changes in high fat and protein meat products, making them suitable for the application. Many research results showed that these non-thermal technologies may keep meat fresh and maintain heat-sensitive elements in meat products.

Effect of Single and Two-Cycles of High Hydrostatic Pressure Treatment on the Safety and Quality of Chicken Burgers

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two cycles of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment on chicken burgers after storage at refrigeration (4 °C) for 15 days, in comparison with the application of a single cycle of high hydrostatic pressure treatment, as well as compared with non-treated burgers. Samples were treated at 400 and 600 MPa and a single or two cycles were applied. The results showed that mesophilic, psychrotrophic molds, yeast, and coliforms were significantly reduced by HHP treatment (p < 0.05), 600 MPa/1 s (2 cycles) leading to the maximum inactivation. Concerning color parameters, a significant increase in lightness/paleness (L*) and a reduction in redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) (p < 0.05) was observed in samples as 600 MPa were applied. Moreover, 600 MPa/1 s (2 cycles) caused the highest differences in the meat color (ΔE processing) of the chicken burgers. No HHP treatment significantly affected the degree of oxidation of samples (p > 0.05). However, 600 MPa/1 s (2 cycles) samples showed the highest values of TBA RS content after 15 days of storage (p < 0.05). Finally, the appearance, odor, taste, and global perception of cooked burgers were similar in all groups (p < 0.05). Therefore, treatments at 600 MPa produced a significant reduction in microbial counts but modified the color; however, the discoloration effect in the cooked burgers was not noticed by panelists.

Mass transfer modeling during wet salting of caiman meat (Caiman crocodilus yacare) at different brine temperatures

Caiman meat is considered exotic and its consumption has significantly increased due to its nutritional quality. This study aimed to evaluate the kinetics of water content (WC) and salt content (SC) at different temperatures (1, 5, 10 and 15 °C) and to evaluate the use of mathematical models to predict the mass transfer kinetics until equilibrium conditions during the wet salting of caiman tail fillets. Moisture and chloride analyses were performed throughout the wet salting process. Four models (Peleg; Weibull; Zugarramurdi and Lupín; Diffusion) were tested to predict WC and SC kinetics in caiman tail fillets subjected to wet salting. The increase in the temperature resulted in a reduction (P < 0.05) in WC and an increase (P < 0.05) in SC. Nonlinear effects on WC and SC kinetics were observed between the different temperatures evaluated. Furthermore, the effective diffusion coefficients (D_w and D_s) increased (P < 0.05) with increasing temperature. Peleg, Weibull, Zugarramurdi and Lupín, and the Diffusion model satisfactorily represented WC and SC rates throughout the process. The kinetic behavior of the parameters of the models corroborated the effects of temperature on those parameters. Peleg was the best model for predicting WC and SC kinetics, and Zugarramurdi and Lupín was the best for predicting the equilibrium conditions of the process (WC^∞ SC^∞), all parameters which can be used to describe the mass transfer kinetics during wet salting of caiman tail fillets.

Quality Evaluation Indices for Soybean Oil in Relation to Cultivar, Application of N Fertiliser and Seed Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum

Soybean ranks second in production and consumption of vegetable oils worldwide and these are expected to continue to increase. The suitability of soybean oil for specific uses is determined by the fatty acid composition from which a number of indices and indicators can be calculated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the indices of nutritional and health-promoting fat in seeds of soybean cultivars grown in 2016–2019 under the influence of varying doses of N and inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Omega 3 and Omega 6, unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), saturated fatty acids (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), index of desirable fatty acids (DFA), sum of hypercholesterolemic fatty acids (OFA), index of atherogenicity (AI), index of thrombogenicity (TI), oleic desaturation ratio (ODR), linoleic desaturation ratio (LDR), calculated oxidizability value (COX) and the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio (HH), saturation fat index (S/P) and ALA/LA, OL/(LA+ALA) ratios and the consumer index (CI) were included. Fat quality indices for soybean seeds were strongly determined by weather conditions. Seeds of the cv. Aldana contained higher amounts of Omega 6 and featured more favourable MUFA/PUFA and OL/(LA+ALA) ratios, while the seeds of the cv. Annushka had more favourable CI and higher ODR, COX and S/P indices. No important differences were observed regarding the effect of nitrogen dose and seed inoculation on the formation of the DFA, OFA, HH, AI, TI and CI indices. The value of the S/P index suggests that higher nitrogen rates (60 kg∙ha−1) and the lack of inoculation treatment produce seeds with a more favourable dietary fatty acid balance.

Effect of flaxseed and flaxseed oil supplemented in caiman diet on meat fatty acids

Increasing polyunsaturated or long-chain fatty acids in meat for human consumption improves both nutritional quality and consumer perception. The increase could occur through the addition of rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids (such as flaxseed or flaxseed oil) to the animal diet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplement with two presentations of flax (crushed seeds or oil) on the change of FA content in two cuts of caiman meat (tail and neck). We measured fatty profile in two different caiman meat cuts (neck and tail) from 30 animals (total length 96.7 ± 4.9 cm, snout-vent length 47.8 ± 3 cm, weight 4.2 ± 0.6 kg), raised in individual enclosures, fed three a week for 50 days with crushed chicken head and a dry food formulated for these reptiles in a 70/30 ratio (C, n = 10), control diet with 10% crushed flaxseed (FS, n = 10), and control diet with 10% flaxseed oil (FO, n = 10), while the remaining days animals were fed the control diet. Meats from animals fed both enrichment diet (FS and FO) showed an increase of C18:3n-3 and ΣUFA with respect to control diet. Although both enriched diets raised the levels of C18:3n-3, the neck showed higher values than the tail. We observed that the neck is more susceptible than the tail to be improved by FO, which could suggest that it is more beneficial to consume neck meat. In order to be implemented in caiman farms, flaxseed oil is more expensive than seed, but more effective, easier to manage, and is practical for application on caiman farms.

Principles and applications of non-thermal technologies and alternative chemical compounds in meat and fish

Conventional methods of food preservation have demonstrated several disadvantages and limitations in the efficiency of the microbial load reduction and maintain food quality. Hence, non-thermal preservation technologies (NTPT) and alternative chemical compounds (ACC) have been considered a high promissory replacer to decontamination, increasing the shelf life and promoting low levels of physicochemical, nutritional and sensorial alterations of meat and fish products. The combination of these methods can be a potential alternative to the food industry. This review deals with the most critical aspects of the mechanisms of action under microbial, physicochemical, nutritional and sensorial parameters and the efficiency of the different NTPT (ultrasound, high pressure processing, gamma irradiation and UV-C radiation) and ACC (peracetic acid, bacteriocins, nanoparticles and essential oils) applied in meat and fish products. The NTPT and ACC present a high capacity of microorganisms inactivation, ensuring low alterations level in the matrix and high reduction of environmental impact. However, the application conditions of the different methods as exposition time, energy intensity and concentration thresholds of chemical compounds need to be specifically established and continuously improved for each matrix type to reduce to the maximum the physicochemical, nutritional and sensorial changes. In addition, the combination of the methods (hurdle concept) may be an alternative to enhance the matrix decontamination. In this way, undesirable changes in meat and fish products can be further reduced without a decrease in the efficiency of the decontamination.

Fatty acid composition and influence of temperature on the lipid stability of Arapaima gigas meat

Abstract The nutritional quality and lipid stability of Arapaima gigas fillets were investigated. A total of 27.32 kg of A. gigas fillets were obtained and the proximate composition and fatty acid profile immediately determined. In addition, the lipid oxidation parameters were analyzed during 15 and 90 days at 4 °C and –20 °C, respectively. The A. gigas fillets presented high protein (> 15%) and low lipid (< 2%) contents with elevated polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) contents (43.97%). The nutritional quality indices were the atherogenicity index (0.35), thrombogenicity index (0.28) and the hypocholesterolemic acid/ hypercholesterolemic acid ratio (2.37). Overall, an increase followed by a decrease was observed in the peroxide index (PI) and malondialdehyde content (MDA) results at both storage temperatures ( p < 0.05). The lipid profile exhibited great nutritional quality, however new conservation methods should be investigated for this matrix due to increased lipid oxidation during refrigerated and frozen storage.