Improvement of the physicochemical properties of pale soft and exudative (PSE) pork meat products with an extract from mechanically deboned turkey meat (MDTM)

Loss of protein functionality of pale soft and exudative (PSE) meat and a surplus of mechanically deboned turkey meat (MDTM) has negative economic impacts on the meat industry. The objective of this research was to add functional proteins from an extract of MDTM to PSE meat to create a value-added pork sausage product. Sausages manufactured from PSE incorporating an MDTM extract exhibited a 30% increase in rigidity (P<0.05) compared to those manufactured using brine alone. Sausages made from PSE and normal pork with the MDTM extract demonstrated little difference in water holding capacity (P>0.05), and reductions of 4.1 and 3.1% in cooking loss (P<0.05), respectively, compared to sausages made employing brine alone. Introducing functional proteins derived from MDTM to processed meat made with PSE pork has the potential to enhance the economic value to both of these low value raw materials.