Abstract:

Meat tenderness would change significantly in thermal process. Generally, with increase of heating temperature, the shear force value increases in the range of 0 to 100 ℃ then decreases at higher temperature, but cooking loss increases gradually with increase of temperature. These changes are caused by heat induced denaturation of meat protein. Myofibrillar protein and connective tissue as two main component of meating protein, their denaturation in thermal process is major factors affecting meat tenderness.

Key words: meat, cooking, tenderness, connective tissue, myofibrillar protein