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Multifactorial approach to measure shelf life of meat products
R. Yglesias, B. Zentz, Cargill, Wichita, United States
Objectives: Beef prices are volatile and depend on multiple factors.
To accommodate for that instability, product formulations depend on
different raw materials and storage ages. The objective of this test
was to use a Response Surface Design to evaluate the effect of
different factors and their interaction on the shelf life of beef patties.
Materials and methods: A rotatable inscribed central composite design
with α=1.414 was employed to formulate beef patties using amixture
of frozen and fresh raw materials with different ages and several
inclusion rates. The design consisted of nine full factorial points, six axial
points and five center points. Twenty treatments were formulated into
patties and frozen. From frozen, patties were cooked to 160 F and served
to panelists. Samples were presented simultaneously and judges were
instructed to cleanse their palate with unsalted crackers and water
before and in between samples. A total of five panels were conducted.
Samples were randomly distributed across panels with the exception of
the center points, which were evaluated at the same time. Independent
variables analyzed consisted of “Factor 1” (X1), “Factor 2” (X2) and
“Factor 3” (X3). The dependent variables investigated were 1–9
Structured Hedonic Scales for texture, juiciness, overall flavor and
product overall acceptability. Datawas blocked by day and mathematical
models containing only the significant terms were generated for each
response parameter using multiple linear regression analysis and
analysis of variance. A desirability function was calculated to simultaneously
optimize Hedonic scores.
Results: Based on a minimum score of 5.5 which is at least a “slight
liking” for hedonic consumer acceptance, maximum ages of raw
materials at specific levels of inclusion were determined depending on
a targeted shelf life. Fig. 1 shows a desirability function with a minimum
of 5.5 for texture, juiciness, flavor and overall acceptability at a given
factor combination. The statistical program used (JMP® 10.0, SAS
Institute Inc., 2012) allowed for an interactive profiler graph where the
consumer acceptance was predicted based on a function that included
only the significant terms affecting the shelf life for this product. As a
result, the shelf life of beef patties was calculated based on a
multifactorial analysis of the sensory characteristics over time.