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Modelling postmortem evolution of pH in beef M. biceps femoris under two different cooling regimes

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Abstract

A model based on enzyme kinetics was developed to predict differences in postmortem pH change in beef muscles as affected by cooling rate. For the calibration and validation of the model, pH and temperature measurements were conducted at different positions in M. biceps femoris following conventional carcass cooling or faster cooling of the muscle after hot boning. The glycogen conversion, and, hence, the pH fall, was observed to significantly vary with position and cooling regime but only during the initial hours of cooling. Comparison of the cooling regimes indicated that fast cooling following hot boning avoids heat shortening induced by the combined effect of high temperature and low pH.

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Abbreviations

ATP:

Adenosine triphosphate

ADP:

Adenosine diphosphate

BF:

Biceps femoris

BC:

Buffering capacity (mol m−3 pHunit −1)

c p :

Specific heat capacity (J kg−1 K−1)

Cr:

Creatine

\( c_{p,m} \) :

Specific heat capacity of meat (J kg−1 K−1)

PCr:

Phosphocreatine

E a :

Energy of activation (J mol−1)

F6P:

Fructose-6-phosphate

F1,6P2 :

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate

[C]:

Concentration of component C (mol m−3)

HBIBF:

Hot boned inner BF

HBOBF:

Hot boned outer BF

\( \Delta H_{ATP} \) :

Enthalpy change during ATP hydrolysis (J per mol P −1i )

IIBF:

Intact inner BF

IOBF:

Intact outer BF

K a :

Acid dissociation constant

\( K_{m} \) :

Michaelis–Menten constant (mol m−3)

L :

One-half the thickness of the sample (m)

La− :

Lactate

m :

Exponent (that indicates the number of hydrogen ions attachment site)

N :

Number of measurements

P :

Parameter value

p :

Number of model parameters

\( {\text{pH}}_{{i , {\text{m}}}} \) :

pH value of individual measurement

pHp :

Predicted pH

PFK:

Phosphofructokinase

Pi :

Inorganic phosphate

\( \Delta \) :

Difference operator

\( \nabla \) :

Gradient operator

R :

Universal gas constant (J mol−1 K−1)

R 2 :

R-squared value

RMSE:

Root mean square error

\( S_{{\upsilon_{\text{G}} ,P}} \) :

Relative sensitivity of glucose conversion rate with respect to model parameter

T :

Temperature (K)

t:

Time (s)

T i :

Initial temperature (K)

T ref :

Reference temperature (K)

T s :

Surface temperature (K)

\( \upsilon_{ATP} \) :

ATP production rate (mol m−3 s−1)

\( \upsilon_{G} \, \) :

Rate of glucose conversion (mol m−3 s−1)

\( V_{max,ref} \) :

Maximum glycogen conversion rate at reference temperature (mol m−3 s−1)

\( \upsilon_{La} \) :

Lactate production rate (mol m−3 s−1)

x :

Sample depth at which measurement was conducted (m)

α :

Thermal diffusivity (m2 s−1)

\( \delta \) :

Fraction of inorganic phosphate existing as HPO4 2−

\( \lambda_{m} \) :

Thermal conductivity of meat (W m−1 s−1)

ρm :

Density of meat (kg m−3)

σ:

Standard deviation

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the agro-food innovation platform Flanders’ Food, the Belgian slaughterhouses and the Flemish government agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) for financial support (Flanders’ Food project ‘ChillMeat’). This research work was conducted in Belgium when Kumsa D. Kuffi, the first author of this manuscript, was a PhD student at KU Leuven, Belgium. The author is currently an assistant professor at Ambo University, Ethiopia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BIOSYST-MeBioS, University of Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Bart M. Nicolai, Annemie Geeraerd & Pieter Verboven

  2. Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Animal Product Quality, Ghent University, Proefhoevestraat 10, 9090, Melle, Belgium

    Stefaan Lescouhier & Stefaan De Smet

  3. Institute of Technology, Ambo University, P.O. BOX :19, Ambo, Ethiopia

    Kumsa D. Kuffi

Authors
  1. Kumsa D. Kuffi
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  2. Stefaan Lescouhier
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  3. Bart M. Nicolai
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  4. Stefaan De Smet
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  5. Annemie Geeraerd
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  6. Pieter Verboven
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pieter Verboven.

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Kuffi, K.D., Lescouhier, S., Nicolai, B.M. et al. Modelling postmortem evolution of pH in beef M. biceps femoris under two different cooling regimes. J Food Sci Technol 55, 233–243 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2925-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2925-9

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