Melting and crystallization DSC profiles of different types of meat

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to test the influence of scanning rate and meat type on the thermo-physical properties of meat and content of the freezable water in frozen meat.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to test the influence of scanning rate and meat type on the thermo-physical properties of meat and content of the freezable water in frozen meat, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In this study, three types of meat were investigated: beef (M. Longissimus dorsi), pork (M. Longissimus dorsi), and chicken meat (Pectoralis major). The cooling rate affected the onset (Tcon), peak (Tc) and end (Tcend) temperatures of crystallization process of beef meat (p < 0.05). Decreasing cooling rate from 20 to 2°C/min resulted in significant (p < 0.05) change of the crystallization enthalpy (ΔHc) of beef meat, from -220.17 to -168.20 J/g, respectively. Reduction of the heating rate caused significant (p < 0.05) decrease in enthalpy of melting (ΔHm) for beef meat, from 228.87 to 161.13 J/g. The heating rate affected the peak (Tm) and end temperatures (Tmend) of melting process of beef meat (p < 0.05). The type of meat did not have effect on ΔHc and ΔHm as well as temperature of crystallization (Tcon, Tc and Tcend) and temperature of melting (Tm and Tmend) in meat. Significant (p < 0.05) change in freezable water content were recorded between heating rate 20 °C/min and other heating rates, for all three meat types.