The effect of sealing process on the textural and sensory properties and protein profile of cooked meat

This work aimed to determine the effect of sealing process at different internal temperatures on the cooking loss, lipid oxidation, textural, and sensory properties, as well as the protein profile of cooked meat. For this aim, four different groups were formed. The control group was not sealed, while the other three groups were sealed until their internal temperature reached 20, 30, and 40 °C. Then, all samples were baked until their internal endpoint temperature reached 71 °C to ensure food safety. The lowest cooking loss (11.57%) was detected in the control group, and increased sealing core temperature resulted in an increase in cooking loss. The sealing did not show a significant effect (P > 0.05) on the TBARS value. On the other hand, myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic protein profile were influenced by sealing. Myofibrillar protein profile showed that protein denaturation rate was higher in groups sealed at the internal temperature of 30 and 40 °C. The sealing process affected only the hardness value among the textural properties examined. With the sealing process, the hardness value of the meat significantly (P < 0.05) reduced and the lowest hardness value was determined in the sample sealed at the internal temperature of 20 °C. Sealing positively affected the overall acceptability score of the samples, and the samples sealed until their internal temperatures reached 30 and 40 °C had higher overall acceptability scores.