The Rural Voice, 1996-04, Page 111
Scrap Book
Infra -red test
determines meat
tenderness
A new meat quality
assessment tool developed in
the Tabs of the University of
Guelph could mean more tender
meat for Ontario consumers.
The new device uses near -
infra -red (NIR) light to make
sure that meat is being cooled at
the best rate. It has been
developed by animal and
poultry science professor
Howard Swatland.
"The sooner meat is cooled
after slaughter, the longer its
shelf -life," Swatland explains.
"But if it's cooled too fast, the
muscles contract and the meat
becomes tough. It's a dilemma
in the meat industry. This NIR
technology will enable packers
to crank down the temperature
until just before the muscles
begin to contract and then stop."
Whcn a carcass cools too
quickly, the system in the body
that causes muscles to contract
is activated. Tiny box -like
structures in the muscles called
sarcomeres become shorter and
condensed, and the result is
tough meat.
The NIR apparatus emits light
that is near -infra -red on the light
spectrum. Beside being invis-
ible, it's also cold, so it doesn't
heat the meat. The NIR travels
through a meat sample and out
the other side, during which it
detects something called
"birefringence". Birefringence
occurs whcn Tight hits very
ordered molecules and splits in
two directions, causing a double
image to be seen. Swatland says
that whcn the sarcomeres
shorten, the molecules become
more neatly packed, so the
separation of the two paths of
light increases as the NIR passes
through the muscle. Where the
birefringence is greater, the
meat is tougher.0
—Source: University of Guelph
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