ES2933480A1 - Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes. The invention consists of the inoculation of microorganisms in meat maturation processes by wet or dry method by means of injection, spraying or baths with microorganisms in meat that is subsequently going to be matured in order to achieve controlled and tailored maturation processes with specific effects, reducing the processing time. maturation and improving aspects such as tenderness, smell, color or losses. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes

TECHNIQUE SECTOR

The present invention refers to a procedure for the treatment of meat in its maturation processes, the purpose of which is to obtain high tenderness as a result of post-mortem maturation and the appearance of aromas before and especially during cooking.

The object of the invention is to reduce maturation times and reduce product losses, all while optimizing the organoleptic characteristics of said product.

The invention is preferably situated in the field of treatment of meats with high added value, such as beef and veal, although it is applicable to any type of meat such as pork, poultry or fish.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Meat maturing is an old process that is once again in the news, which is normally carried out on meats with high added value such as beef and veal to obtain products with very attractive organoleptic characteristics, such as obtaining high tenderness as a result of the post-mortem ripening and the appearance of aromas before and especially during cooking.

During maturation, dry or moist (vacuum-packaged meat), aromas develop that are appreciated and pleasant, according to what was established by trained and consumer panels. These aromas are mainly due to the presence of certain aromatic compounds. With the maturation time the intensity of the different aromatic attributes increases.

The other sensory characteristic most valued by the consumer is the tenderness that is It also increases with the time of maturation.

The microbiological contribution to the flavor of this process is unknown, in terms of the proteolytic and lipolytic contribution of the meat matrix that occurs during the maturation process and which is largely unknown since to date it was believed to be due to a solely enzymatic process. .

The maturation process consists of the conversion of the muscle tissue of the animal into meat, that is, the enzymes in the meat act by breaking down proteins and connective tissue of the muscle in order to be digestible and tender and have an adequate pH. The adequate final pH of the meat is of vital importance to guarantee the physicochemical and sensory properties of the meat as it is closely related to the water retention capacity, color, and tenderness. Since the pH is not acidic (5.5-5.6), meat is a very suitable substrate for microbial multiplication.

Until now it was believed that the enzymes in the meat themselves were the ones that generated the aromas, palatability and tenderness of the final product, in a spontaneous and proper way, considering the tissue or muscle of the meat and fat as a sterile "entity" free of microorganisms and, therefore, it was not contemplated that this maturation process was generated by the contribution of microorganisms.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

However, the applicant himself has been able to verify experimentally that the muscle tissue contains a microbial load typical of the slaughtered animal from the intestinal microbiota and that these microorganisms are the ones that grow and multiply during the meat maturation process, providing and excreting proteolytic enzymes and lipolytic properties capable of offering and generating meats with very different textures and aromas.

This hypothesis has been verified, and microorganisms have been isolated in beef from animals of different origins and farms, obtaining a very different microbiota of its own, both in the muscle and in the fat of the pieces of meat studied.

Consequently, the procedure of the invention is based on the inoculation of microorganisms in wet or dry meat maturation processes by injection, spraying or baths with microorganisms in meats that are subsequently going to be matured as a means of controlling the maturation processes. these microorganisms being of the same type as those that appear naturally in the maturing process of the meat to be treated.

In this sense, the concentration of microorganisms is extremely important, so that they are inoculated in orders greater than the concentration that these microorganisms naturally appear in the meat in the maturation processes.

The process provides for the inoculation of more than one microorganism to cause different organoleptic effects, thereby increasing the sensitive palette.

More specifically, microorganisms materialize in bacteria, yeasts and/or fungi, either individually, mixtures or combinations of them in any of their forms.

In this sense, this type of microorganisms will be chosen among those that are free of antibiotic resistance genes. The fact of being able to select microorganisms that do not have antibiotic resistance genes and being able to inoculate them in the meat in greater amounts than the microorganisms that are normally present naturally (that is, that the inoculated microorganisms perform the function of initiators) causes implant these beneficial bacteria in the meat by not allowing antibiotic resistant bacteria to implant themselves, not letting them grow, and thus be able to achieve a controlled process of meat maturation both at an organoleptic and healthy level.

From this procedure, a more controlled process is obtained with better traceability, both from the point of view of food safety and the organoleptic quality of the product, with greater possibilities of organoleptic ranges, faster and therefore more profitable. , all this with a reduction of losses in the matured product.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TABLES PROVIDED TO THE REPORT

To complement the description that will be made below and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of practical embodiment thereof, a series of tables is attached as an integral part of said description. based on the embodiment examples that will be described in the following section.

Table 1 collects data about the different samples of veal used in the tests.

TABLE 1

Table 2 identifies the lactic bacteria obtained in the isolates.

TABLE 2

Table 3 identifies the fungi (molds and yeasts) obtained in the isolates.

TABLE 3

TABLE 3 (CONTINUED)

Table 4 shows an analysis of the sensitivity or resistance to antibiotics of the isolated bacteria, reflected in table 2, where the black boxes indicate sensitivity and the white boxes indicate resistance to those antibiotics), and where the nomenclature of each strain corresponds to an internal code of the laboratory.

TABLE 4

TABLE 4 (CONTINUED)

Table 5 contains a selection of microorganisms based on biodiversity in the genus and species of yeasts, "safe" bacteria and fungi, and taking into account the geographical diversity of the meat, reflecting the candidates selected to carry out the individual maturations. in the same meat sample.

TABLE 5

TOTAL:26

Table 6.- collects the inoculation of the different microorganisms and the differences at the analytical level, reflecting the best results obtained among the 26 candidates in table 5, the signature "B" corresponding to bacteria, the "H" to fungi and the "L” to yeasts.

TABLE 6

EXAMPLE OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Microorganisms have been experimentally isolated in the veal meat of 3 animals from different origins and farms (table 1), obtaining a very different own microbiota both in the muscle and in the fat of the pieces of meat studied (table 2).

In addition, during the dry maturation process it has been possible to observe a spontaneous growth in quantity and quality of microorganisms, these being responsible for the meat having different aromas and tenderness.

For this, the 3 pieces of 3 different origins were matured (table) and the very different microorganisms were isolated, which are bacteria (found in muscle and fat), yeasts (found in muscle and fat) and fungi (which are at superficial level), in each of the pieces during the dry maturation process of 21 days (Table 2), indicating "M0" the "0" or start time and "M3" the end time, being "M1" and "M2" intermediate times, once 8-10 days (M2) and 13-15 have elapsed. days (M3) approx.

The concentration found had orders of exponents of 1exp2 and exp3 at the initial moment (M0) and orders of exp6 at 21 days (M3).

The microorganisms represented in Table 2 coincide with those isolated at the beginning (M0), at intermediate times (M1 and M2) and at the end (M3) at those indicated concentrations.

Those microorganisms that have been isolated in the spontaneous maturation of meat from the three origins have been inoculated individually at concentrations higher than those that naturally exist naturally in the meat at time M0, in orders of 1 exp 6 in yeasts and fungi. and 1 exp 7 in bacteria from the beginning to M0, so that its implantation is clear and we have a higher initial concentration of the starter between 1000 and 10,000 times higher.

For the selection of microorganisms, more different microorganisms were first chosen at the level of genus and species and also taking into account the diversity of geographical origin (see table 5). Subsequently, the microorganisms were inoculated before maturing based on the most different phylogenetic distances that we found between them to shorten the experimental matrix, that is, only those that were genetically most distant were chosen so that they could provide us with potentially more diverse characteristics and they were coded as B (bacteria), L (yeast) and H (fungus) (see table 6), by intramuscular injection or by surface application.

The selection of microorganisms to be inoculated has been based first on the absence of antibiotic resistant genes in bacteria (see table 4) and, later, on the diversity of genera and species in yeasts and fungi.

During the evolution of the maturation of the meat individually inoculated with microorganisms isolated from the meat itself, the aim is to achieve an implantation of these microorganisms over time and see what effect they have on their aromatic and tenderness characteristics.

Likewise, at an industrial level, it is intended to reduce maturation times and reduce product losses. At the organoleptic level, it is intended to see what capacity each inoculated microorganism has as a starter at a higher concentration than that existing naturally, in its capacity at the proteolytic, lipolytic level, etc., to verify what maturation time is adequate for each one of them. , and, finally, see its quality that can be both positive and negative. From the above, the importance of selecting the appropriate microorganisms, their application dose and the days of maturation can be deduced.

The different isolated microorganisms can be inoculated to the meat individually or mixed by mixing them at the beginning of the process. If different microorganisms have different effects on tenderness or aroma, two or three microorganisms can be inoculated to look for different aspects and originality in the meat. Being able to be inoculated, yeasts together, or yeasts with bacteria, or yeasts with fungi, or bacteria together, bacteria with fungi, or different fungi together, etc.

The inoculations will be carried out either through injections into the muscle or fat and by spraying on the surface, or through meat baths with microorganisms and in two types of formats, dry or wet.

Thus, the invention consists of the inoculation of microorganisms in wet or dry meat maturation processes by means of injection, spraying or baths with microorganisms in meat that is subsequently going to be matured in order to achieve controlled and tailored maturation processes with specific effects.

More specifically, the effective concentrations of application must be of orders greater than the concentration in a natural way that these microorganisms appear, which vary between 1exp2 to 1exp 3 cfu/g. Inoculations of microorganisms at a higher concentration than that naturally present is considered essential for their implantation and controlled maturation.

Therefore, this specific dosage of microorganisms will cause tailored controlled effects at a specific time.

The invention thus described entails being able to select maturation initiators to achieve specific and differentiating effects that are traceable and reproducible, as well as being able to control the maturation of meats and being able to generate a large palette or organoleptic variety with the use of a great diversity. of microorganisms whose use was not studied or implemented for this specific field.

As previously described, it is possible to inoculate more than one microorganism to cause different organoleptic effects, thereby increasing the sensitive palette.

The inoculated microorganisms will be "safe" microorganisms, that is, with the absence of antibiotic resistance genes in their genome for the generation of custom-ripened meats of differentiated and guaranteed quality and healthiness.

The different meats that have been studied present a high percentage of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics (close to 75%), therefore, they can cause resistance gene transfer in the human intestine to pathogenic bacteria present in it.

The antibiotics to which these microorganisms are resistant are those that humans use today as routine antibiotics, such as tetracyclines, cephalosporins, clavulanic acid,... (see table 4), so this issue is potentially sensitive for public health. and for a more secure future in the food chain.

Consequently, "safe" microorganisms free of antibiotic resistance genes must be inoculated so that they are implanted in the meat maturation process and do not allow the growth of microorganisms naturally present in the meat that we have found to have a high percentage of microorganisms. naturally present in meat with resistance to antibiotics.

With this process of inoculating microorganisms free of selected resistance genes, we not only gain in food safety, but also, depending on the selected microorganisms, they are likely to improve with respect to the process. traditional spontaneous characteristics such as flavor, palatability, tenderness, color, in addition to reducing maturation times (see table 6).

We also increase the organoleptic range of possibilities in maturation with different microorganisms and their mixtures and, lastly, and very importantly, we do not allow the implantation or growth of autochthonous microorganisms with resistance to antibiotics.

In all cases, we also achieve the same tenderness in less time than a traditional process and by reducing the maturation time together with the inoculation of the starter at a higher dose than the meat's own microbiota, we allow the non-implantation and growth of possible microorganisms present in the meat. meat naturally with resistance to antibiotics susceptible to growing in the meat maturation process.

From this procedure, the following advantages are obtained:

• More controlled and traceable processes both from the point of view of food safety and the organoleptic quality of the product.

• Greater possibilities of organoleptic ranges, since the possibilities are endless with the ability to inoculate "safe" microorganisms with different characteristics

• Faster processes and, therefore, more profitable. Characteristic tenderness and aromas are achieved in 2 weeks, while in traditional processes of spontaneous maturation it is necessary to mature the meat for up to 30-45 days.

• Less losses with the inoculation of microorganisms. The losses that we have obtained have been less than 10% compared to time 0, and compared to a spontaneous maturation process with values of loss of 23-25%, we reduce losses by 15%.

• Processes controlled at the health level.

• The fact of being able to select bacteria that do not have antibiotic resistance genes and being able to inoculate them in the meat in greater amounts than the bacteria that are normally present naturally (that is, that the inoculated bacteria perform the function of starters) causes these beneficial bacteria are implanted in the meat, not allowing antibiotic-resistant bacteria to implant, not letting them grow, and thus be able to achieve a controlled process of meat maturation both at an organoleptic and healthy level.

It only remains to point out the fact that the invention is not exclusively applicable to beef, and can be extended to other types of meat such as pork, poultry or fish.

By way of example, and in accordance with the experimental tests described above, the following results are obtained:

• Improvement of the tenderness of the batches of veal, achieving average values of tender meat WBSF < 38 N very tender, 43 N tender. The average tenderness obtained is 57.2N, compared to an average of 53.64N in wet maturation. However, the meat inoculated with the B1 starter presented very tender meat (<38N). Regarding Fungi and Yeasts, the most tender meat was inoculated with Fungus 1.

• Improvement of sensory quality. Only the color and general acceptability of the meat have been assessed. I find this assessment acceptable at 2 and 3 weeks of inoculation with bacterial starters but more favorable at two weeks. With the Yeast and Fungus starters, the meat has maintained a fresh and acceptable appearance even after 3 weeks of dry aging.

• Reduce process times by 50% compared to current dry aging: A time of 2 weeks is reduced (compared to the usual 30-45 days) and it is enough to obtain adequate tenderness and aroma.

• Reduce the percentage of losses due to moisture loss from 23-25% to less than 15%. The average losses obtained have been <10%%, which represents an improvement compared to dry maturation without starters.

Claims (4)

1a.- Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes, characterized in that it consists of the inoculation of microorganisms in meat maturation processes by wet or dry method by injection, spraying or baths with microorganisms in meats that will later be processed. ripened as a means of controlling ripening processes, in terms of ripening times and attributes such as tenderness, smell, color or losses, these microorganisms being the same type of those that appear naturally in the ripening process of the meat to treat. 2a.- Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes, according to claim 1a, characterized in that the microorganisms are inoculated in orders greater than the concentration naturally appearing in these microorganisms, specifically greater than 1exp2 cfu/g. 3.- Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes, according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the microorganisms materialize in bacteria, yeasts and/or fungi, either individually, mixtures or combinations of them in any of their forms. 4.- Procedure for the treatment of meat in maturation processes, according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the microorganisms are microorganisms free of antibiotic resistance genes.