THE EFFECT OF TRANSGLUTAMINASE AS A BINDING AGENT IN MIXTURE OF MEAT AND NON-MEAT GELS ON WATER HOLDING PROPERTIES AT DIFFERENT COOKING CONDITIONS

Abstract

The influence of cooking methods (water bath, retort, and microwave) on the binding and water holding proper ties of mixed pork/casein gels with (2.5 or 5 g kg-1) or without (control) microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) was investigated using puncture test measurements. The MTGase treatment improved (P < 0.0001) water-holding capacity, reduced (P <0.0001) cooking loss (CL), purge and expressible water (EW), and increased (P <0.0001) the gel hardness and breaking strength as measured by compression and puncture tests. Microwave-cooked mixed gels had the lowest hardness but least CL and EW than retort and water bath-cooked samples. The results sug gested that MTGase influenced the gel properties of pork muscle/non muscle gels, but the effectiveness of the en zyme treatment depended on the cooking methods.