Bio-field Treatment: An Effective Strategy to Improve the Quality of Beef Extract and Meat Infusion Powder

The present research work investigated the influence of bio-field treatment on two common flavoring agents used in food industries namely beef extract powder (BEP) and meat infusion powder (MIP). The treated powders were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analysis, surface area analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The FT-IR results showed disappearance of triglycerides peaks in both the treated powders as compared to control. XRD results corroborated the amorphous nature of both control and treated samples. The BEP showed enhanced average particle size (d50) and d99 (size exhibited by 99% of powder particles) by 5.7% and 16.1%, respectively as compared to control. Contrarily, the MIP showed a decreased particle size (d50;0.4% and d99; 18.1%) as compared to control.It was assumed that enormous energy was stored in MIP after bio-field treatment that led to fracture into smaller particles. The surface area was increased in both the treated powders. DSC result showed significant increase in melting temperature, in BEP and MIP, which indicated the higher thermal stability of the samples. However, the specific heat capacity (?H) was decreased in both samples, which was probably due to high energy state of the powders.

This research study was an attempt to improve the physicochemical properties of BEP and MIP using bio-field treatment. FT-IR data showed that bio-field treatment has changed characteristics of treated powders at the structural level. DSC study corroborated increase in melting temperature in BEP and MIP of treated powders as compared to control. However, decrease in specific heat capacity (?H) was observed in treated samples (BEP and MIP) as compared to control. It is postulated that no extra energy or heat was required in order to raise the powder temperature as the treated samples were already in high energy state due to bio-field treatment. The increased melting temperature and maximum thermal decomposition temperature of treated samples showed the higher thermal stability. Based on the results achieved, we conclude that, the removal of triglycerides could lead to an improvement in the aroma and food quality of beef extract and meat infusion powder.