TIME-INTENSITY AS A TOOL FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF MEAT TENDERNESS

In the texture analysis of meat, tenderness is an attribute that chang es over time from the initial bite to the residual phase before swallo wing. In this study, continuous time-intensity measurements were recor ded on a line scale and compared to a single time-averaged measurement . Thirty gluteobiceps gilt roasts representing two breeds and cooked a t three oven temperatures were evaluated by eight trained assessors. C ores, taken both perpendicular and parallel to the muscle fibre, and s lices were sampled from each roast. Assessors recorded their perceptio n of tenderness continuously from initial bite to swallowing by moving a cursor on a computer screen (time-intensity) and over a chew count of eight (time-averaged), Results based on parameters summarizing the time-intensity curves were comparable to those of the time-averaged da ta. The time-intensity curves clearly illustrated the temporal feature s of the perception of tenderness. Crown copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd