Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
12.4.1 Methods for enzyme application in meat tenderization
Due to biochemical consistence and structure of meat it can be challenging to evenly
distribute the tenderizing protease into meat pieces. Possible methods are, for example
spraying, injection, dipping and marinating. During past decades many reports about pre
slaughter injection of inactivated plant protease - mainly papain - solution into the living
animals' vascular system have been published. This is done in order to achieve thorough
distribution of enzyme throughout the carcass. This has been described for lamb
80
and
beef
81
and this
antemortem
process has been used at least previously industrially in many
countries.
Dipping of meat pieces in solution containing proteolytic enzymes or marinating in such
solution has been widely used (e.g. Quaglia
et al
.
82
and Naveena and Mendiratta
83
). The
problem with that method is the poor penetration of the enzyme into the meat pieces and the
resulting possible over-tenderized surface and mushy texture whereas the interior remains
unaffected.
16
Injection of proteolytic enzyme solution directly into meat pieces has been shown to be
a more effective way of tenderization than marinating in enzyme-containing solution. Much
higher dosages of papain were needed in marinating compared to injection to achieve the
same level of tenderization. Most likely this is due to restricted enzyme-substrate contact
area in marinating.
84
Even the carrier solution used for enzyme injection may have signif-
icant effect on meat quality attributes.
85
Huerta-Montauti
et al
.
86
found that treating beef
muscles with papain containing brine solution in a vacuum tumbler permitted the throughout
distribution of the enzyme to the entire muscle and allowed the breakdown of structural
proteins.
The cooking procedures used in meat manufacturing highly affect the activity of tender-
izing enzymes. The more time the product is kept at or near the temperature optimum of
used enzyme, the more protein hydrolysis and also tenderization are expected to happen.
87
For optimized quality the processing conditions should be adjusted to suit the activity, but
also the inactivation of the enzyme(s) used. Meat industry can use enzymatically tenderized
meat to produce high-quality ready-to-eat products, for example sausages. Tenderization of
meat with enzymes increases solubility of meat proteins, which may have marked positive
effect when they are used as raw material in processed meat products. Tenderization of beef
meat with ficin before using it in sausage manufacturing, substantially improved water-
holding capacity, emulsion stability and other quality factors (e.g. taste) of sausages.
88
When
the enzyme-aided tenderization takes place in meat industry facilities, the process is highly
controllable. This is in contrast to the situation where enzyme is applied to meat which is
then sold raw to consumers.
Different enzymes or enzyme mixtures are suitable for different meat cuts. For fine-tuned
applications, the substrate specificity and activity profiles of applied enzyme preparations
should be known to adjust the enzyme levels and processing conditions to suit each other.
The use of plant extracts, for example plant puree or juice, rich in tenderizing enzymes can
contribute to good tenderizing effect with supposedly lowered costs compared to commercial
enzymes.
37, 89
In the future it could be possible by means of modern microbial methods to produce
different kind of fine-tuned proteases for different needs of meat tenderization: one for accel-
erating the tenderization of high-quality red meat (effect on myofibrils), one for degrading
the connective tissue of lower grade meat from old animals sold as raw (effect on collagen
at low temperatures) or used as raw material in industry (effect on denatured collagen).
