4 minute read
Retaining the Red
Researchers use dehydrated pomegranate rind in a solution to lengthen ground beef's shelf life
Katelin Spradley
omegranate and ground beef may seem like a strange combination, but a group of professors and students in Oklahoma State University’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences has found a way to make the two a useful duo.
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“Consumers buy meat based on color, especially with ground beef,” said Morgan Pfeiffer, meat science doctoral candidate working on the research.
“In our research, we use pomegranates as an antioxidant,” she said. “Antioxidants have a lot of properties,but one of them is they can increase the color and shelf life of meat.”
Pfeiffer said professors and students involved in the project are looking at the specific effects of pomegranate on the ground beef to which it is added.
“The plan is to add pomegranate extract to ground beef patties to extend the shelf-life of the color, retaining more of the reddish-pink color,” said Emmy Bechtold, food science senior and undergraduate research scholar.
For industry packers, pomegranates could serve as a different source of antioxidants than what they are already using, Bechtold said.
Once the researchers receive pomegranates, they dehydrate the rind, grind it up and boil it in water to make different concentrations of the solution, Pfeiffer said. The solution is then added to the beef during the grinding process. The treated beef is stored for five days in four types of packaging to simulate what is commonly used in the meat processing industry.
The research started three years ago after Ranjith Ramanathan, animal and food sciences associate professor, proposed the idea. Today, the project shows promising results, Pfeiffer said. The ground beef with the pomegranate extract shows an enhanced color and does not spoil as quickly as ground beef without the added extract, Pfeiffer said. “Dr. Ram is world-renowned for meat color research,” Pfeiffer said. “It means a lot for him to have a paper published about an antioxidant that isn’t widely used and is successful.”
A stark difference exists between the ideal color of the ground beef patties with added pomegranate extract and those without, said Taylor Neilson, 2018 animal science alumna who worked on the project.
Although improved meat color was an important part of the research findings, Pfeiffer said her favorite discovery came from the results of the lipid oxidation tests, which look at changes in the lipids, or fats, in meat.
Antioxidants are also known for keeping lipids from changing, which causes meat to spoil, she said.
“You could see the color change big time, but we were also running a lipid oxidation test to look for the spoilage point,” Pfeiffer said. “When we would run the test in the test tubes from the control to the one-and-a-half percent pomegranate sample, the results were getting so much better.”
The delay of spoilage extends the shelf life of ground beef in the store as well as the time ground beef can stay fresh after purchase, Pfeiffer said.
Neilson said her career plans do not lie in meat or food science, but she liked the idea of using a natural antioxidant to extend the amount of time meat stays fresh and to reduce waste.
Neilson said chemicals can be added to ground beef to delay lipid oxidation, but adding an antioxidant like those found in pomegranates instead is a great alternative to achieve similar results.
“We aren’t adding pomegranate in high enough percentages to claim you are getting any additional health benefits,” Pfeiffer said, “but you are getting a little bit of the antioxidants.”
Lipid oxidation and resulting meat spoilage is a controversial topic in the meat processing industry, making this research relevant to a broad audience of people, Neilson said.
Neilson presented the research through a poster at the Reciprocal Meats Conference in June 2018.
“This is one of those projects a lot of people would stop by to see because it is something they are all trying to achieve, too,” Neilson said.
One question Neilson said she received multiple times during the conference was whether the research could be applied outside of a lab setting.
“I don’t think a big industry grinder is going to use it, but the smaller ones that grind in-house could add the pomegranate solution in a small concentration,” Pfeiffer said. “Ultimately, it would save a ton of money if we could keep ground beef on the shelves longer.” Looking forward, Neilson said the next stage of research will be a taste test with a trained taste panel to see whether the addition of pomegranate changes the flavor of the ground beef.
OSU researchers also may look to pair with other universities to use pomegranate extract to enhance dark-colored steaks, which otherwise would be discarded due to consumer preference, Pfeiffer said.
One of the project’s biggest challenges is the seasonal availability of pomegranates, Bechtold said. Making the pomegranate solution is a pretty affordable process since the rind is a by-product but the seasonality of the fruit makes it hard to obtain a year-long supply, she said.
“We have frozen the solution for up to a year, and it was still good,” Bechtold said.
Despite the challenges, the research holds big implications for OSU and the meat processing industry as a whole, Pfeiffer said.
“It is a big deal this worked and could have some relevance in the industry,” Pfeiffer said. “It is also rewarding for the whole university and the department.”
The hands-on experiences gained and connections made through their research involvement was something both Neilson and Bechtold said they rely on as they continue their educational careers. Both Bechtold and Neilson did a lot of the work required to make the research a reality, Pfeiffer said.
“No matter where it is published or where it is talked about, people will always say OSU did this,” she said.
KATELIN SPRADLEY Cuba, New Mexico
