Use of gelatin gels as a reference material for performance evaluation of meat shear force measurements

Establishing standards for meat tenderness based on Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) is complicated by the lack of methods for certifying WBSF testing among texture systems or laboratories. The objective of this study was to determine the suitability of using gelatin gels as reference materials for performance testing of texture measurement systems. Three replications of 5 gels (15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 35% gelatin) were prepared, vacuum packaged, and stored at 4 °C until use. Three randomly selected strips from each gel were subjected to WBSF testing on 4 instruments (A, B, C, or D) on days 1 and 8. Additional strips from each gel were subjected to WBSF testing on instruments A and C on day 29. Regression line estimates for each set of gels were analyzed. Gel WBSF values ranged from 10 to 177 N. The WBSF by gel concentration response was highly linear (P<0.0001) for all replications, instruments, and days of analysis. R2-values across all sets of gels ranged from 0.9562 to 0.9998. On days 1 and 8, instruments A and D exhibited higher slope (P<0.0001) and lower intercept (P<0.0001) estimates than instruments B and C. Regression line parameters (slope, intercept, and R2-values) were not influenced (P>0.05) by length of gel storage (1, 8, and 29 d). Data from this study suggest that gelatin gels can be used for evaluating WBSF values from various instruments and for validating the performance of meat shear force testing.

Validating the performance of meat shear force testing is vital to establishing meat tenderness standards. The gelatin gel standards developed in this study exhibited a highly linear, repeatable relationship with shear force and were found to be stable for at least a month. These gel standards would provide a tool for the meat industry to harmonize shear force measurements across laboratories and various texture measuring instruments.