Determination of differences in free and bound water contents of beef muscle by DSC under various freezing conditions

Abstract

The differences in bound water content of beef semimembranous muscle samples obtained from previously chilled (24 h at +4°C) middle-aged beef carcasses were determined by the use of DSC. Initially, samples obtained from fresh, unprocessed meat were frozen at −40, −50 or −65°C to determine their melting peaks for freezable water (free water) content with the use of DSC. The samples were then subjected to an environment with an ambient temperature of −30, −35, −40 or −45°C, with no air circulation, or with an air circulation speed of 2 m s⁻¹, until a thermal core temperature of −18°C was attained; this was followed by thawing the samples until a thermal core temperature of 0°C was reached. This process was followed by subjecting the samples to the ambient temperatures mentioned above, to accomplish complete freezing and thawing of the samples, with DSC, and thereby determination of the freezable water contents, which were then used to determine the peaks of melting. The calculated peak areas were divided by the latent heat of melting for pure water, to determine the freezable water contents of the samples. The percentage freezable water content of each sample was determined by dividing its freezable water content by its total water content; and the bound water content of each sample was determined by subtracting the percentage free water content from the total. In view of the fact that the free water content of a sample is completely in the frozen phase at temperatures of −40°C and below, the calculations of free and bound water contents of the samples were based on the averages of values obtained at three different temperatures.