Meat quality characteristics of pork bellies in relation to fat level

Abstract

Objective: Pork belly is considered as the most commercially important and preferable primal cut by consumers worldwide. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the effects of fat levels on the meat quality characteristics of pork bellies.Methods: Seventy-eight growing-finishing pigs collected from different commercial pig farms were slaughtered and used in the present study. After slaughter 24 h, bellies were fabricated according to the Korean Pork Cutting Specification, and immediately sampled for analysis of their fat content. Based on the fat levels, the bellies were segregated into three different groups: low fat (LF, fat ≤20%, n = 15), medium fat (MF, fat 21% to 30%, n = 30), and high fat (HF, fat ≥31%, n = 33). The bellies were then analyzed for meat quality traits, fatty acids, flavor compounds and eating quality properties.Results: The HF group had lower moisture and cooking loss levels compared to the other groups (p<0.05). The LF group presented higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to the other groups (p<0.05). The LF group showed higher amounts of the Maillard reaction-derived flavor compounds (e.g., 2,5-dimethyl pyrazine, 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethyl, and 4-methylthiazole) associated with meaty and roasty flavors whereas, the HF group showed higher amounts of oleic acid- derived compounds (e.g., nonanal and octanal) associated with the fatty and oily flavors. Interestingly, significantly higher scores for all the eating quality attributes (flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and overall acceptance) were found in the HF group compared to those in the LF or MF group (p<0.05).Conclusion: The high-fat bellies (fat ≥31%) had a better technological quality and eating quality compared to the low-fat bellies (fat ≤20%). Thus, increasing the fat content may improve the technological quality and eating quality traits of pork bellies, however, this increase may also result in more trimmed loss due to excessively deposited body fat.

Effects of intramuscular fat on meat quality and its regulation mechanism in Tan sheep

“…The C18 fatty acids are essential for meat flavor. For instance, stearic acid (C18:0) contributes to the typical mutton flavor ( 47 ); oleic acid (C18:1) generates hexanal and heptanal with pleasant sweet and fatty flavors ( 48 ) as well as octanal and nonanal with fruity, fatty, and oil odors in cooked meat ( 49 ); linolenic acids (C18:3) can be cleaved to 2-pentylfuran under thermal oxidation and produce a fruity and buttery aroma ( 50 ). Thus, the higher contents of C18 fatty acids enhance the flavor of mutton with a high IMF content.…”

Eating Habits in Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia from North-Eastern Romania

“…Worrying is the fact that one-third of the group ended up eating it four to six times/week. Bacon is widely eaten and preferred due to its taste and texture but also because of its high-fat and low-lean composition [ 12 ]. The pork meat is highly loaded in saturated fatty acids; thus, a constant, increased ingestion will lead to a higher cardiovascular risk [ 13 ].…”

Formation and Analysis of Volatile and Odor Compounds in Meat—A Review

“…HS-SPME has been used successfully in the detection of the possible aroma compounds of both beef and pork and meat products such as sausages. Examples of analyzed beef and pork products with the HS-SPME technique are cooked Hanwoo beef [ 101 ], raw beef [ 119 ], ground beef [ 120 ], beef extract powder [ 121 ], cooked pork [ 122 ], minced pork [ 123 ], pork bellies [ 124 ], stewed pork [ 125 , 126 ], dry-cured ham [ 127 ], fried pork loin chops [ 80 ], and smoke-cured bacon [ 128 ]. For additional information, refer to Table 3 .…”

“…The broad use of 70 eV as the electron ionization energy allows the comparison of the resulting compound mass spectra with those in many commercial mass libraries for the identification of VOCs [ 150 ]. Commercial mass libraries often used for the identification of the VOCs in meat are the NIST library [ 92 , 125 , 136 ] and the Wiley library [ 96 , 124 , 149 ], although other alternatives exist as well, such as MassLab [ 151 ].…”