PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PRESSURIZED CARP MEAT

To elucidate the mechanical process in meat during high pressure treat ment, we attempted to describe thermodynamically the mechanism of meat denaturation on the basis of volume changes, enthalpy changes, and rh eological properties. Carp meat was pressurized up to 196 MPa for 13 h at 0-5-degrees-C. The volume of meat was irreversibly changed by pres surizing for more than 4min. After 2h of pressurization, the ratio of volume change (V0 - V)/V0, where V0 and V were the volumes of unpressu rized and pressurized samples, respectively, attained a constant value of ca. 0.11. The results of dynamic viscoelastic measurement on the m eat paste showed that the pressurized meat gave a fine network structu re of meat gel by heating. A comparison of the results of differential scanning calorimetry with volume changes by pressurizing suggested th at there was a similar denaturation mechanism in both heating and pres surizing.