MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF FORCEMEATS OF READY-TO-COOK CHOPPED MEAT WITH FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Meat products, at different technological stages and as finished articles, retain their morphological features. Microstructure analysis of the raw material, ready-to-cook products, or finished articles allows determining the presence of certain types of tissues, organs, spices – and low-value admixtures the recipe does not provide for, as well as reused raw materials. Microstructural studies of ready-to-cook chopped meat products allows identifying their components, establishing different properties of various tissue and cellular structures, and controlling the articles manufactured. Minced beef as the object of research was modified, with 5 %, 10 %, 15 % of the meat part replaced with lupin flour and 0.5% of elecampane root powder added as aromatic raw material. For microscopic examination, samples of the forcemeats developed were put marks on and fixed in a 10 % neutral formalin solution. The sections, as thick as 0.5–1 cm, were cut on a sledge microtome. They were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, and the PAS reaction. Light microscopy and microphotography of the tissue specimens were performed with a microscope Leica DM 2500 and a camera Leica DFC 450C with the software Leica aplitation suite 4.4. The micrographic investigation of the forcemeats revealed polygonal and round muscle fibres (their dark nuclei were clearly seen under the sarcolemma), concentrations of adipose tissue histologically characterized by a reticulate structure. In the microphotographs, lupin flour looks like groups of round light purple cytoplasm with dark purple nuclei in the centre of polygonal cells; bread looks like loose brown fibres; wavy violet fibres represent onions; and single dark brown spots marked elecampane. It has been shown that histological studies, with the PAS reaction used, are helpful in determining the meat and plant content in the ready-to-cook meat developed, and that haematoxylin and eosin can help determine the functional ingredients content.