Pre-rigor manipulation to enhance meat quality (BOA) [PSHIP.150.05E]

Summary

A production prototype unit (i.e. Boa) has been developed to manipulate hot boned muscle tissue in such a way as to avoid the sacromeres from shortening during the onset of rigor. To enable commercial users to operate the technology and also to provide potential commercialisers with information on the working of the

Objectives

The specific objectives of the research were to:

• complete the construction of the equipment / technology to meet requirements for a commercial operation
• run a commercial pilot trial in at least one New Zealand plant and one Australian beef processing operation
• benchmark selected cuts to identify benefits of pre-rigor stretching
• investigate pre-prigor effect of Bos indicus and Bos Taurus

Key findings

The key deliverables were:

• the development of operating protocols
• the submission of full patent specification
• the initiation of pilot trials and evaluation of meat quality
• consumer evaluation
• commercialisation guidelines and initial considerations.

Benefits to industry

With regard to the Boa technology it has been shown that it can be used to improve the tenderness of hot-boned loins to a similar level as other stretching technologies on cold-boned carcasses. In addition, it has been shown that manipulation of the chilling regime was far more flexible than the chilling regime of intact carcas

MLA action

Subsequently, MLA's actions were:

• pass the technology onto the commercialiser
• evaluate and report on the performance of the technology in a commercial operation for cold- and hot-boned processing applications.

Future research

Further research and development is proposed to bring the prototype Boa unit to market and determine appropriate commercial adoption pathways.

Specifically, future research may be aimed at increasing the level of stretch achieved with this technology and determining the optimal chilling conditions. In addition, this technology might be tested to improve the tenderness of muscles that are not affected by stretching techniques on intact carcasses.