THE STUDY OF COMPOSITION AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF PORK OF THE FOURTH GRADE INTENDED FOR COMMERCIAL PROCESSING

At a meat processing plant along with raw materials from young animals intended for fattening and meat processing there moves raw material from animals being at the end of the period of their main productive activities. Pork of the fourth grade is such raw material. It is obtained from pigs used to produce offspring over several reproductive cycles. Pork of the fourth grade is used exclusively for commercial processing of meat products, therefore, the properties of raw materials influence the quality of the finished product. Available data on the properties of pork of this grade is very limited and does not allow us to fully assess its quality and to provide recommendations for use. The article describes research on chemical composition of pork of the fourth grade and physico-chemical parameters characterizing its functional and technological properties. The research has been performed on samples isolated from the inner part of the hip cut of chilled pork with the maturation period of 3 days. Similar samples were isolated from pork of the second grade. It has been found that the mass fraction of protein in pork the fourth grade is higher than in the pork of the second grade by 2.77%, while the mass fraction of moisture is less by 3.55%. No statistically significant differences in the mass fraction of minerals and intramuscular fat have been found for the pork of studied grades. Differences in chemical composition affectphysico-chemical characteristics of raw materials. Water binding capacity (WBC) of pork of the fourth grade is 3.5% higher than that of the pork of the second grade. High WBC of pork of the fourth grade helps reduce moisture loss during thawing, at the same time, the mass loss during heat treatment is slightly higher. The value of the index of lightness (55.00) and chromatic coordinates of "red" (18.17) and "blue" (15.33) suggests that the intensity and quality of paint in the fourth grade pork exceed those of the second grade pork. This is consistent with the data of organoleptic evaluation. The smell, taste and texture of pork of the fourth grade as well as the broth are not worse than those of pork of the second grade. The obtained data allow us to appreciate the technological potential of the pork of the fourth grade and recommend it for products subjected to fermentation and drying in the production process.