S. Moeller1, D. Wulf, D. Meeker, M. Ndife, and N. Sundararajan
The Ohio State University Department of Animal Sciences
Paired boneless pork loins were obtained from 76 market hogs to evaluate the tenderness, meat-quality characteristics, sensory attributes, and microbial content of pork loins exposed to the Hydrodyne® Process. The Hydrodyne® Process uses a small explosion to generate a shock wave in water. The resulting shock wave, when administered to meat with similar acoustic properties as water, passes through the meat and creates substantial damage to muscle structure, resulting in improved tenderness. Research on the impact of this technology on pork is limited, and this study was designed to evaluate the impact of the Hydrodyne® Process on tenderness in pork.
Administration of the Hydrodyne® Process (HP) resulted in a 17% improvement in tenderness over the nontreated control (C) loin when comparing Warner-Bratzler shear force values. The effect of the HP on tenderness was consistent when cooked to two end-point temperatures. No differences in cooking loss were observed when comparing HP and C loins at both end-point temperatures. No differences between HP and C were observed for color score, firmness score, Hunter L color, Minolta reflectance, or drip loss on uncooked samples. HP loins were found to have significantly lower marbling scores and intra-muscular fat contents than the paired C loin from the same pig. A subset of 16 paired loins was randomly selected and tested for sensory attributes. The loin samples used in the taste panel did not exhibit a significant improvement in Warner-Bratzler shear tenderness as a result of the hydrodyne treatment, which is in contrast to the improvement observed in the analysis of the entire set of loins. Sensory panelists were also unable to differentiate treatment differences between HP and C loins for both initial or sustained tenderness scores. Sensory evaluation on the subset of 16 paired loins also showed no differences in HP or C loins for pork flavor, off-flavor, cohesiveness, or number of chews prior to swallowing, but HP loins had a significantly higher juiciness score and more cooking loss than C loins. Microbial analysis on the subset of 16 loins showed no differences in coliform bacteria counts or aerobic plate counts for HP or C loins and no detectable levels of E. coli bacteria in either HP or C loins.
1 For more information, contact at: The Ohio State University, Animal Science Building, 2029 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH 43210, 614-688-3686, Fax 614-292-2929, e-mail: moeller.29@osu.edu