Water-holding capacity assessment of meat using an electromagnetic sensing method

The loss of water from fresh meat (drip loss) has a considerable influence on its properties. High drip loss will affect both the yield and quality of meat. It may lead to a large reduction in financial output, nutritional value as well as consumer appeal. Water-holding capacity (WHC) is the ability of muscle to retain naturally occurring moisture in meat. Current methods used to estimate WHC of postmortem muscle by means of measuring drip loss are time-consuming. This paper highlights current methods used to measure WHC and drip loss in meat. The paper will also present a novel method to measure drip loss and hence determine WHC using a microwave cavity. The cavity is first modelled using Ansys High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS). The cavity is then constructed, tested and evaluated in LJMU laboratories. The results obtained using different types of meat such as; pork, chicken, beef and lamb are presented and discussed in this paper. The results indicate that determination of WHC using microwave spectroscopy is a promising alternative to the existing methods.