Application of Enzyme Preparation in Meat Processing

In the past 20 years, various enzyme preparations have been used in meat processing. The common points of enzyme preparations are: strong professionalism and can be carried out under mild conditions; low cost and energy consumption in processing; significant changes in meat properties and meat quality improvement; high production efficiency; No harmful ingredients remain in the meat. The usage of three enzyme preparations for meat processing is introduced for reference.

1. Transglutaminase

Currently there is more production in Europe and the United States, and there is Ajinomoto in Japan in Asia. Transglutaminase can utilize the formamide group of the glutamine residue on the protein peptide chain of the meat product as the donor and the amino group of the lysine residue as the acceptor to catalyze the transamination reaction, thereby making the protein cross-linking occurs within or between molecules. It is reported that glutenin catalyzes the degree of cross-linking between casein and chicken globulin to soy (4780, 10.00, 0.21%) protein, corn (2445, 8.00, 0.33%) and myosin. Good results were obtained by using transglutaminase and sodium caseinate to reconstitute veal (reconstruct muscle tissue from ground beef pieces) through an enzymatic reaction.

Transglutaminase has limited ability to improve the binding force between minced meat pieces when used alone, and it must have a significant effect when sodium caseinate is added. The dosage is 0.05% transglutaminase and 1% sodium caseinate. The binding force between the minced meat pieces is more than 100 g / cm2. In this way, the minced meat pieces can be used as whole meat pieces. The above method of recombining ground beef into meat pieces by using the enzymatic method can improve the raw material utilization rate of a meat processing plant, increase the product yield, and improve economic benefits.

2. The use of protease as a tenderizer in meat processing

As a food industry additive, prion protease can be used to improve food quality. Formulated with protease as a tenderizer to effectively promote tenderization of meat during processing. The meat obtained by slaughtering aging animals will become rough and hard after cooking, which will make it difficult to process such raw meat, reduce the taste and reduce the quality. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was used to tenderize meat. The main ingredients are protease and salt. The most used and most stable protease is papain. In the 1980s and 1990s, a lot of systematic research work was done on the relationship between the action of papain and the effectiveness of tenderizers. Food scientists based on a large number of meat sensory, the evaluation of meat physical properties (such as tenderness, shearing force, etc.) has fully affirmed the tenderization effect of meat tenderizers with papain as the main component. The research work also proves that the protease suitable for the preparation of meat tenderizers must have a relatively high heat resistance (thermal stability). This is because the tenderizers fully perform their function. As the temperature gradually increases, it plays a role in the stage where papain has not lost its activity. Obviously, cooking at too high temperature will cause the denaturation of collagen and elastin in meat connective tissue, and papain can rapidly increase the solubility of collagen protein at 60 ℃ ~ 75 ℃.

3. Papain Tenderization and Taste Enhancement Injection for Livestock and Poultry

In order to improve the tenderness of meat, foreign countries use intravenous injection of papain or bromelain, or post-mortem injection of butter, vegetable oil, phosphate, salt, etc., which can significantly improve the tenderness of livestock meat. This method began to be used more often in beef tenderization, and soon it was widely used in pork and poultry. In the late 1980s, papaya enzymes were mainly used to change the taste and taste of meat. Beef, pork, and poultry meat treated with papaya enzymes can become tender and delicious.

Papaya enzyme is a natural protease extracted from papaya. 20 minutes to 30 minutes before the slaughter of livestock and poultry, it is injected from the jugular vein and evenly distributed to various parts of the body through the period of blood circulation to gradually destroy the collagen fibers of the muscle tissue and increase the tenderness of the meat. The same effect can be achieved with intramuscular injection of papain. Livestock and poultry meat after slaughter and separation is stored, and papain is at rest in the meat. In the subsequent cooking and heating, when the temperature reaches the appropriate temperature for the enzymatic reaction, the enzyme is activated and the tenderness of the meat is improved.