PRESSURE‐INDUCED SOLUBILIZATION OF MEAT PROTEINS IN SALINE SOLUTION

Abstract

Under some conditions, pressures of the order of 100 mega‐newtons/meter 2 (MNm −2 ) applied to homogenates of ovine meat in 0.5M sodium chloride solution were found to give about a threefold increase in the yield of salt‐soluble protein. At pressures of about 70 MNm −2 the water‐holding capacity (WHC) of homogenates of meat from some carcasses was increased. The effect of pressure on protein solubility was dependent on meat concentration in the homogenate (pressure was ineffective at high meat concentrations); duration of pressurization; and pH (being most effective in the pH range 5.3–7). The pressure‐induced solubilization of meat proteins is assumed to occur via an ionic mechanism.