Investigation on the influence of shred heights in pork muscle on quality characteristics of balangu

This study reports on the influence of different shred heights in pork muscle on quality characteristics of a traditional grilled meat product balangu. Balangu was produced from pork muscle having different shred heights of 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5 mm; the traditional technique of preparation was adopted with little modification. The resulting products were assessed for volatile and sensory characteristics, using solid phase mass extraction gas chromatographymass spectrometry (SPME-GSMS) and sensory panel respectively. Results showed presence of various volatile compounds belonging to different classes including ketones, acids, alcohols, esters, aromatic/cyclic hydrocarbons, alkanes/alkenes, nitrogeneous compounds, aldehydes and furans; some of the volatiles could not be classified under any of the classes. The area units, AU (x10³ ) of the volatiles increased correspondingly with increase in shred heights of pork muscle. Among others, the major volatiles identified in balangu were acetone, 2-butanone, 3-methyl1-butanol and 2,3-butanedione, having AUs of 4734, 1551, 1239 and 463 respectively in the sample made from shred height of 0.5 mm. Evaluation of sensory characteristics indicated that there was enhanced sensory preference for balangu prepared from shred heights of 0.5 and 0.75 in the attributes of aroma and appearance. On the other hand, balangu samples prepared from shred heights of 1.25 and 1.5 mm recorded better preference in the attributes of tenderness, taste and acceptability than those from lower shred heights. The finding concluded that optimal quantities of the major volatiles were obtained from balangu samples made from shred heights of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 mm, thus giving them advantage over others. Moreover, slight variation occurred in consumers’ preference for the different balangu samples in the sensory attributes tested. This is a novel study, as no previous report is known on influence of shred heights on quality characteristics of balangu produced from pork muscle.