Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – Material is mammal or fowl derived
Patent
1999-07-29
2000-09-12
Hendricks, Keith D.
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
Material is mammal or fowl derived
426 58, 426105, A23B 400, A23L 1317, A23L 3015
Patent
active
061174602
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
SPECIFICATION
This invention is directed to a method of fixing or stabilizing pH values in smoked sausages, strongly smoked sausages, smoked ham and similar products and allows permanent stabilization of these values during subsequent drying and storage.
When a predetermined pH has been reached, the goods to be treated are subjected to a high-pressure treatment in a special pressure vessel. To this end the sausage and meat products have to be enclosed in an impermeable outer packing which conforms well to the shape of the product. The goods to be treated are then exposed to high pressure (c.400 to 600 MPa) for several minutes.
The type of pressure transferring medium--for instance water to which optionally a corrosion protectant has been added--is of secondary importance. The high-pressure treatment is performed at room temperatures. Elastic products such as sausage and meat products will regain their original shape subsequent to the pressure treatment.
What is of decisive significance is the fact that subsequent to the high-pressure treatment the pH of the correspondingly treated smoked and strongly smoked products will not change anymore within the so far known storage life.
The current state of the art as related to the high-pressure treatment of food is described by professor Dr. G. Lehmann in an article published in "Fleischwirtschaft", No. 10, October 1996, Verlagsgruppe Deutscher Fachverlag, Frankfurt/Main, pp.1004-1005, as quoted below:
The development of high pressures applied to food was the starting point for a novel technology for the gentle treatment of food with the intention, on the one hand, of sterilizing the same and on the other hand, of achieving effects similar to those obtained when food is prepared by being boiled at high temperature.
In addition to the killing of microorganisms, proteins will be denatured, enzymes will be deactivated, and the starch will be gelatinized. The high-pressure treatment affects large molecules whereas smaller ones such as amino acids, vitamins or flavoring agents will remain intact.
Since the high-pressure treatment of meat is a non-thermal process, neither toxic components nor off-flavors will be produced. The sample, which is packaged in flexible sheet material, is compacted under pressure to a greater or lesser degree, any gas-filled voids will disappear, and upon relaxation the original shape is regained. The pressure medium used is water, and a pressure between 5000 and 7000 bars is employed for the treatment of meat.
At present, several research institutes are working on autoclave sterilization.
As a novel process in food technology several methods have been developed in recent years with the aim of extending the storage life of products by killing microorganisms which lead to spoilage, thereby to retain the freshness. These novel methods make use of a carbon dioxide supercritical pressure or a high static pressure.
What happens in the course of the high-pressure treatment of food is set out below:
Hence, the use of high pressure affects the three-dimensional structure of the molecules. In this connection the large molecules such as proteins, enzymes and polysaccharides are clearly more vulnerable while smaller molecules such as, for instance, amino acids, vitamins and other low-molecular substances, which are of significance in respect of taste, color and nutritional value, will remain intact.
In addition to the activation of enzymes, killing of microorganisms certainly is one of the most important effects of the high-pressure treatment of food. This sterilization is an alternative to the known methods and offers the great advantage that the natural state and the original freshness of the products are conserved. As compared to thermal processes, the advantage resides in that the properties of food such as flavor, structure and storage life may be improved, because chemical reactions such as, for instance, the Maillard reaction which during thermal treatment may have a detrimental effect on the food quality do not take place in the case of high-pre
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