The food industry has been increasingly requested by consumers
to guarantee both high-quality products as well as safety during
thermal processing. The factors that determine the quality of
cooked protein-based foods such as meat and fish are their texture,
water holding capacity , the flavor, color, and taste. To obtain highquality
products, it is necessary to appropriately control the thermal
process so that these factors are optimized.Moreover, suitable
models, such as kinetic models, are required to predict and describe
the changes in these factors that occur during heat transfer
Several studies have performed kinetic analysis of the changes
that occur in protein-based foods during thermal processing. Such
studies have evaluated the changes in the texture of meat during
heating , weight-loss from the meat during
cooking color changes of fish during grilling and fluctuations in the umami component of meat
during cooking Out of the results obtained from these studies, empirical kinetic
equations describing texture and weight-loss have been generated
from experimental values. These empirical equations are excellent
for practical use, but their application is limited because the kinetic
parameters may depend on heating conditions applied. Therefore,
a kinetic model based on the physical, chemical, or biochemical
reactions leading to the target phenomenon is desirable for
generating predictions corresponding to various heating conditions.
The kinetic analysis of protein denaturation is appropriate
because protein denaturation gives rise to changes in meat texture
and weight-loss during thermal processing. However, no research
has been conducted on the kinetic analysis of protein denaturation
in the macro meat system and no study has shown a quantitative
relationship between the degree of denaturation and meat quality,
i.e., the texture and the state of the water contained in the meat.