Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Rheological Properties, and Physicochemical Characteristics of Meat Systems with Fibrinogen and Thrombin

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and textural and physicochemical analyses were carried out to evaluate the effect of fibrinogen and thrombin (Fibrimex) addition to meat systems formulated with and without NaCl. For this purpose, different model systems were elaborated: fibrinogen and thrombin (FT), meat emulsion (ME), and meat emulsion with fibrinogen and thrombin (MEFT), with 0, 1, and 2% of NaCl. The addition of fibrinogen-thrombin to meat emulsions results in a gel network with modified physicochemical and textural characteristics, increasing the hardness and springiness. The addition of NaCl at 2% to FT and MEFT systems reduced the gel hardness. MRI parameters (T2, T1, and apparent diffusion coefficient) indicated that systems with fibrinogen and thrombin (FT and MEFT) presented a structure with many and large pores, bulk water, and higher translational motion of water. Significant correlations were found between MRI, texture, and physicochemical parameters.

Magnetic resonance imaging study of the cold-set gelation of meat systems containing plasma powder

“…All MRI measurements were performed according to Herrero et al (2007). A Bruker BIOSPEC 47/40 spectrometer (Bruker GmBH, Ettlingen, Germany) operating at 4.7 T (200 MHz) equipped with a 12 cm diameter and which actively shielded imaging gradients capable of reaching 200 mT/m along all the axes was used.…”

“…Each of the samples for imaging were cut approximately 4 cm long, 3 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick (Herrero et al, 2007). The samples were placed in a homebuilt shaped surface coil with a dimension of 4 Â 4 cm.…”

“…1 and 2) suggest that molecular interactions may have occurred; this results in a gel structure formation because of the addition of the rehydrated plasma powder to the meat batter. In this sense, the fact that the addition of fibrinogen and thrombin to meat batter increases textural parameter values such as hardness and springiness (Herrero et al, 2007) has been described. Different textural results have been found in the scientific literature on the effects of blood plasma proteins in heat-induced gelation of meat products.…”

“…General information related to the practical aspects of how the binders work and how processing methods affect the finished product characteristics are required to increase the use of these binding agents. In this way, the effects of cold-set binding systems with mixtures of fibrinogen and thrombin (Fibrimex TM , FNA Foods, Harimex Inc.) on consumer acceptance, physico-chemical, textural and structural properties in the manufacture of meat products have been studied (Boles & Shand, 1998Flores et al, 2007;Herrero et al, 2007). Recently, it has been possible to utilize plasma powder as cold-set binding agent: it is obtained from bovine and porcine blood plasma and has excellent functional properties.…”

“…Moreover, MRI parameters are also correlated with meat properties such as water content and sensory attributes (Cernadas, Carrion, Rodriguez, Muriel, & Antequera, 2005;Ruiz-Cabrera, Gou, Foucat, Renou, & Daudin, 2004;Shaarani, Nott, & Hall, 2006). Recently, an MRI study has been carried out in our laboratory to identify the structural changes produce by the addition of a cold-set binding system such as fibrinogen and thrombin on meat systems (Herrero et al, 2007).…”