Pressure/Heat Combinations on Pork Meat Batters: Protein Thermal Behavior and Product Rheological Properties

Common formulation batters were prepared by pork meat comminution and processed for 30 min by pressure/thermal combinations of 200 and 400 MPa with five temperatures from 10 to 70 °C. Processing performance was monitored by determination of pH, cooking loss, and three textural parameters to assess the quality of pressurized versus unpressurized samples. Protein thermal denaturation was determined by differential scanning calorimetry to evaluate the unfolding effects of processing. Net effects were pressure−temperature interdependent, pressure denaturation being particularly effective at nondenaturing temperatures. Pressure suppressed subsequent thermal denaturation at unfolding temperatures, preventing batter proteins from denaturing to an extent dependent on the magnitude of both pressure and temperature processing parameters. Pressurized batters needed higher temperatures to overcome pressure effects and regain total protein thermal denaturation. Pressure/thermal treatments impaired meat gelling at normal cooking temperatures, leading to undesirable effects on the pressurized batters. The extent of native protein remnant after pressure/heat processing explained the apparently erratic physical behavior of the pressurized batters. Keywords: High pressure/thermal treatments; comminuted meats; mechanical properties; texture; protein denaturation; DSC