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The composition and consistency of pig backfat as it affects the quality of vacuum‐packed rindless bacon rashers
Author(s) -
Enser Michael,
Dransfield Eric,
Jolley Paul D.,
Jones Richard C. D.,
Leedham Michael
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740351115
Subject(s) - stearic acid , linoleic acid , palmitic acid , chemistry , food science , consistency (knowledge bases) , chromatography , fatty acid , biochemistry , mathematics , organic chemistry , geometry
Samples of adipose tissue from unsatisfactory, soft, vacuum‐packs of rindless bacon rashers were compared with satisfactory harder samples to determine the factors responsible for the difference in consistency. Lipid from unsatisfactory packs contained significantly higher mean concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids, lower mean concentrations of saturated fatty acids and had a lower mean melting point and mean slip point. Discriminant analysis revealed that the samples were best differentiated according to their proportion of linoleic acid or by the ratio of stearic acid to linoleic acid. Linoleic acid was the best discriminator although stearic acid and palmitic acid were correlated best with the melting point and slip point of the lipid and with the force required to puncture the intact adipose tissue by a probe attached to an Instron materials testing machine. Samples which would give satisfactory firm packs, based on the data from discriminant analysis, required a puncture force greater than 7N. In terms of the spectrum of backfat consistency in British pigs, satisfactory bacon comes from hard backfat whereas the unsatisfactory packs come from backfat of medium consistency.