Abstract:

Objective: To explore the effect of core temperature of boiling on the quality of Xinjiang smoked horsemeat.
Methods: Changes in cooking loss, color, shear force, texture analysis, muscle fiber diameter, sarcomere length, and
sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) electrophoresis characteristics of smoked
horsemeat when it was cooked in boiling water to internal temperatures of 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 and 95 ℃ were
determined. Results: With the increase of core temperature, the cooking loss significantly increased (P < 0.05). Color
a* and b* values tended to decrease firstly and then increase, while the opposite trend was observed for L*. As a result,
a* and b* values reached their minimum level and L* reached its maximum level when the temperature was 70 ℃.
Both shearing force and muscle fiber diameter showed a tendency of increasing at first and then decreasing. Moreover,
they were positively correlated with each other (r = 0.777), and the sarcomere length was significantly reduced. As the
core temperature increased, the hardness of the horsemeat significantly increased (P < 0.05). However, the elasticity
increased first and then reduced. Cohesiveness and chewiness appear to first decrease and then increase. The SDSPAGE
analysis showed that with the increase of temperature, the degradation of macromolecular proteins occurred.
Conclusion: The eating quality of smoked horsemeat is influenced more obviously when the core temperature is 70 ℃.

Key words: smoked horsemeat, boiling temperature, quality, impact；